Expert Witness Agreement - California

CALIFORNIA EXPERT-ENGAGEMENT PREPARATION PACKET

DO NOT SIGN THIS PACKET AS AN AGREEMENT. It collects the facts and
drafting decisions needed for a matter-specific expert engagement. The
operative agreement, disclosure, designation, report, declaration, subpoena
response, and preservation instruction must be prepared separately.

1. Matter control

2. Expert-role classification

Do not promise confidentiality, privilege, work-product protection, draft
protection, or nondisclosure merely from the role label. Counsel must record
the actual rule, order, designation status, and disclosure consequences.

3. Conflict and qualification record

Unresolved issue requiring a hold: [________________________________]

4. Scope and exclusions

Topics the expert may address: [________________________________]

Topics and legal conclusions excluded: [________________________________]

No opinion should be represented as final until the expert independently
approves it. Compensation must not be stated as depending on the outcome or
content of an opinion unless counsel has determined the arrangement is lawful
and professionally proper.

5. Materials and information map

Counsel must decide what may be provided, what must be disclosed, what should
be logged, and how protected, personal, health, trade-secret, or sealed
material may be handled.

6. Current-rule and order register

7. Fee and expense design

This packet creates no nonrefundable retainer, minimum charge, interest rate,
fee-shifting right, suspension right, or cancellation charge.

8. Deadlines and availability

9. Communications, drafts, and records

Do not label material “privileged,” “work product,” or “confidential” as a
substitute for analyzing its actual status. The final agreement must remain
subject to controlling disclosure, subpoena, preservation, and court-order
requirements.

10. Withdrawal, termination, and transition

11. Risk and dispute term register

No predispute jury waiver is included. No indemnity, defense duty, liability
cap, fee award, arbitration, forum, injunction, or other remedy is created by
this packet.

12. Final agreement drafting workspace

Parties, client, matter, and expert role

[Insert verified identities, authority, proceeding, role, and conflicts result.]

Services, exclusions, independence, and deliverables

[Insert the approved scope, excluded topics, objective-opinion term, and dates.]

Fees, expenses, retainers, and cancellation

[Insert only the completed and approved Section 7 terms.]

Materials, confidentiality, disclosure, and records

[Insert only terms consistent with Sections 5, 6, and 9 and the current
protective, discovery, privacy, subpoena, and preservation requirements.]

Termination and transition

[Insert the approved Section 10 terms.]

Optional risk, dispute, and general terms

[Insert only separately approved terms from Section 11 plus amendment,
assignment, integration, counterpart, signature, and notice provisions.]

13. Final review

☐ Expert role, tribunal, case, governing rules, orders, and deadlines confirmed

☐ Conflicts, qualifications, methodology, scope, exclusions, and independence checked

☐ Disclosure, drafts, communications, assumptions, compensation, and testimony treatment verified

☐ Fees, retainer, expenses, cancellation, invoices, and taxes selected and internally consistent

☐ Privacy, security, protective-order, subpoena, preservation, and return instructions approved

☐ No unsupported privilege, discovery, retention, interest, fee, indemnity, liability, arbitration, forum, jury, or remedy conclusion remains

• Preparing attorney: [________________________________]
• Final reviewer: [________________________________]
• Review date: [__/__/____]

End of preparation packet. Do not add party or expert signatures to this packet.