Review a draft planning report against the expert-testimony rule
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- List, for the draft the lawyer supplies, whether it states the witness qualifications, the facts or data relied on, the method, and the application of that method. Write no instruction and no sentence of the report.
- What the lawyer must review
- Federal Rule of Evidence 702 allows an expert to testify in the form of an opinion if the proponent shows it is more likely than not that the specialised knowledge will help the trier of fact, the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, it is the product of reliable principles and methods, and the opinion reflects a reliable application of those principles and methods to the facts. You decide whether the draft meets the rule. You write any instruction to the witness. The advisory note discusses further reliability factors that are not written into the rule text. State evidence rules may differ.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. Limit any support to organising, indexing or comparing the source material. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. The tool writes nothing into the document. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Check the specialist’s assumptions, qualifications and limits. Obtain the relevant expert or specialist review before relying on a technical conclusion.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.