An expert’s testimony follows them everywhere. Our knowledge should too.

Plaintiff experts don’t start over with each case. Their opinions, methods, and talking points travel from courtroom to courtroom, state to state.

The defense’s knowledge about those experts often doesn’t. It stays in one lawyer’s file, in one firm’s storage room, in one jurisdiction. Then another defense lawyer, facing the same expert, starts from scratch.

That’s not a knowledge problem. The defense bar knows a great deal. It’s a sharing problem, and it’s one we can solve.

1. Capture what you learn before the file closes.

Every expert deposition produces more than a transcript. It shows how the expert builds opinions, where they hedge, and what they concede under pressure. Write it down while it’s fresh. A two-paragraph debrief saved today can save a colleague weeks of preparation tomorrow.

2. Compare testimony, not just credentials.

A CV tells you where an expert trained. Prior testimony tells you how they think. Consider a causation expert who blames a delayed diagnosis for a patient’s stroke. In an earlier case, he relied on a different timeline and different literature to reach a similar conclusion. That inconsistency matters, but only if someone can find it. Platforms like Second Chair Software let lawyers search plaintiff experts, locate prior depositions, and use AI to summarize and compare testimony across cases. Shifting opinions and changing methodologies stop hiding in plain sight.

3. Contribute to something bigger than your own case.

Firms are building firmwide expert databases and contributing what they learn to communities like the Healthcare Defense Summit, including information about experts they encounter through codefendants and other defense counsel. Each contribution is small. Together, they form a resource no single firm could build alone.

4. Protect the client first, always.

Collaboration has limits. Client confidentiality, protective orders, and the obligations owed in each case come first, and what can be shared will vary by matter and jurisdiction. Responsible sharing isn’t a compromise on collaboration. It’s what makes collaboration sustainable.

The plaintiff bar has long understood the power of shared resources. The defense bar has the experience to match it. What’s left is the commitment to pool it.

An expert’s testimony follows them everywhere. The defense’s knowledge should too.

For more insights on proactive, research-driven defense strategy, read Reviving Fairness: Defending Healthcare Heroes by John E. Hall, Jr., Esq., available on Amazon.