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legal.online

Column 9, November 1995

Finding Experts On The Internet

By Robert J. Ambrogi

Finding the expert you need can be a tricky task. Whether you represent an accident victim or a disgruntled home buyer, a defrauded investor or a fired employee, the expert you rely on can make or break your case.

It can also be an expensive task. Expert-referral services often charge up front, and many experts require a fee even for an initial consultation.

The Internet offers a means of finding the expert you need that is easy and inexpensive. A number of sites now include paid listings of experts available to testify and consult. Many of those experts are themselves establishing sites on the Internet.

What follows is a guide to finding experts via the Internet. The first section lists sites that offer general listings of experts or links to experts. In some cases, the experts have paid the site a fee to be listed in their directory.

Listings and Links

Acoustics and Audiovisual

Audio Recordings/Noise Reduction

Chemistry

Computer Science and Technology

Construction

Document Examination

Economics and Accounting

Employment

Engineering and Design

Entomology

Evidence Rules

Genealogy

International Law

Investigations

Medicine - General

Medicine - Psychiatry

Medicine - Urology

Medicine - Nurse Consulting

Palynology

Psychology

Sexual Harassment

Toxicology

Wildlife

Robert J. Ambrogi, a lawyer in Rockport, Mass., is editor of "legal.online," a monthly newsletter about the Internet published by Legal Communications Ltd., Philadelphia. He can be reached by e-mail at rambrogi@legaline.com or by phone at (978) 546-7898.

 

Sidebar: Listserv Helps In Locating Experts

 An Internet mailing list designed for expert witnesses is increasingly being used by lawyers to find the expert they need.

The list, "Expert-L," is operated by the Legal Research Network, a Massachusetts company that sponsors a dial-in bulletin-board service, called LERN, that is dedicated to helping attorneys find expert witnesses.

Although the list is intended for experts to communicate with each other, lawyers frequently use it as well. Here is a sampling of recent posts:

To subscribe to expert-l, send an e-mail message to this address: expert-l@lern.mv.com. Leave the subject blank and in the message write: "subscribe." You will receive e-mail confirming your subscription and containing instructions on posting messages to the list. There is no charge to subscribe to this list.

For more information about the LERN BBS, send e-mail to: mailbot@lern.mv.com with the word "info" as the subject header, or use your modem to dial (508) 829-9564. Access to LERN is by subscription ($99 a year) or pay as you go (40 cents a minute).