What Do Lawyers Look for in a Vocational Expert Witness? A Comprehensive Examination of the Literature

An overabundance of general information is available on the roles and functions of forensic expert witnesses participating in civil litigation cases. Similarly, literature exists that specifically examines the most important skills and attributes for an expert in a variety of fields retained in legal cases and specifics designated by attorneys sought when hiring experts to provide forensic testimony. However, the literature does not currently address what lawyers are looking for when they retain experts in the field of vocational rehabilitation counseling in particular as forensic witnesses. Therefore, research is needed to help rehabilitation professionals, rehabilitation counseling students, and counselor educators better understand the vocational qualifications that attorneys specifically seek when hiring forensic rehabilitation counselors to serve in complex civil litigation matters. This article addressed not only prior research that has examined this limited topic, but also forwards a prospective agenda to explore this topic further.