Expert testimony decides valuation disputes, causation disputes and most damages questions. The common error is treating expert retention as a late-stage task.

Retain early. The expert should shape the discovery plan: which financial records to request, which years, which custodians, what to ask in depositions. An expert retained after the close of discovery is limited to the record others built.

Admissibility is a threshold, not a formality. Courts assess whether the expert is qualified, whether the testimony rests on sufficient facts and reliable methods, and whether those methods were applied reliably to the facts. Challenges are made before trial and a successful one frequently ends the case, because a damages claim without an admissible expert usually cannot be proved.

The report matters more than the testimony. It defines the scope of the opinions; opinions not disclosed generally cannot be offered later.

Consulting versus testifying. A consulting expert’s work is generally protected from discovery in a way a testifying expert’s is not. Converting one to the other after they have seen everything is a decision to make deliberately.

Choose for clarity, not credentials. The expert who can explain a valuation method to a non-specialist is worth more than the one with the longer CV and no ability to teach.