Expert Witness Report Quality Checklist

If you are an expert witness, you should have a quality-control checklist that is used every time you produce a report. Your checklist should be customized to fit your practice needs. A quality-control checklist is an easy tool that will help ensure every report is of the highest-quality. Below is a basic checklist to help get you started.

QUALITY CONTROL CHECKLIST

Cover page is correct

Table of contents is correct

Topic headings

Page numbers are correct

Headers and footers are correct

List of documents reviewed included

Unavailable records flagged

Dates are correct

No Spelling/Grammar errors

No run-on sentences

All opinions and question answers are consistent

All questions have full and complete answers

Technical terms, jargon, and acronyms are defined

Words to Avoid

‘Appears,’ ‘presumably,’ ‘supposably,’ ‘is said,’ or ‘evidently’

‘Probable’ or ‘possible’

‘It seems,’ ‘could,’ ‘apparently,’ or ‘I believe’

‘Authoritative’

‘Legal’ or ‘legally’

‘Substantially’