It's not trivial to become an expert witness since it generally means you've got a long, established history in the profession including advanced degrees, publishing in journals, and experience as a witness in court (catch-22 in many cases). You can make very good money as an expert witness but it depends on who has the larger budget (usually the defense) and the nature of the case. I would wager that the average expert witness can probably bill as an indepent consultant at higher rates than he/she can get as an expert witness in court. Expert witnesses are generally challended during voir dire: http://www.forensicmag.com/articles.asp?pid=132 The judge has the final say on who qualifies as expert witness so generally the larger the court the harder it is to be accepted (or alternately the easier to be challenged). Folks may remember in "My Cousin Vinny" when Mona Lisa Vito (played by Marissa Tomeii) was voir dire'd by the prosecution prior to being allowed as an expert witness. ymmv, C.G.. CISSP, CISM, GCFA On 9/11/07, Technomage-hawke wrote: > On Monday 10 September 2007 23:11, keith smith wrote: > > under what circumstances would a programmer be needed as a witness? > > > > I don't know, I will have to ask my friend in Kansas (he's not only a > programmer, but also a computer forensics analyst). > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- powerofprimes@gmail.com Carlos Macedo Gomes _sic itur ad astra_ --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss