Growing up in the 80’s and attending college from 1987 to 1991, it was pretty much programmed into my head that the only path to both happiness and success was a liberal arts degree followed by a job at a New York City money center bank. Despite the 1991 recession I was still able to achieve this goal. The problem was the prize of spending all day in a cubicle chasing various currencies around the world while being surrounded by the shallowest people I had ever encountered didn’t live up to the hype. The feeling was mutual and after a short period of time me and the bank parted company.
Being so disillusioned and disappointed with my reality I knew I had to find another path for my life and career. One day while speaking with a woman I encountered on a flight said the following to me: “Look at some of the things you do that give you so much satisfaction that you will do them for free because you get so much enjoyment out of them. Then see if you can monetize that same activity.” A short time later a bartender in NYC unsolicited said to me “You can do whatever you want to do, just make sure you are the best at it, and everything will be fine.”
These two chance encounters impacted me significantly and are still two of the best pieces of advice I was ever given; And gave me the courage to pursue a career path that was off the beaten track. Following two of my biggest passions, learning and helping others, I embarked on a graduate dual degree program in special education and social work. I had a rough idea of where I wanted to go but really needed to immerse myself in the world of ideas which made each of the two fields unique and so damn interesting.
In graduate school I was fascinated by the term and concept of something being “Intellectually Honest.” Which means that any claim or assertion you make must be backed up by evidence, not perceptions, feelings, opinions or bias. The writing demands of the program were daunting on purpose and the professors were constantly on the lookout for any breaches of this policy. It was quite frustrating and extremely draining at first, especially if a student was passionate about an idea or concept they wanted to put forward in a paper or other project absent of intellectual honesty. I know because early on a paper I submitted was handed back to me drowning in red ink followed by a verbal lashing from the professor.
After that humbling incident I learned to change my approach, slow down and fact check everything. Something called an abstract at the beginning of every scholarly journal article became my new fuel for navigating graduate school. And while my two academic mentors then could not have been more opposite, or disagreeable, they both upheld the principles of intellectual honesty to the utmost for which I am eternally grateful.
This new methodical approach bestowed upon me required diligence, focus and patience while still being tenacious in pursuit of either my own specified goal or the agenda of the particular assignment. Despite having to “curb my enthusiasm” in approaching projects, my obsession with learning the great texts of both my chosen fields—Education and Social Work—as well the other great texts about life, Aristotle, Kant, etc…became my cocaine and I simply could not get enough. I also learned to love the challenge of defending my work to the professors and other parties. Along the way I also realized that the truth should never have to apologize regardless of the narrative.
Upon going into full time private practice in 2003, like everyone else I did not know what to expect. Thankfully my education and training served me well and business was brisk. As this was happening, whenever I had an encounter with an attorney or was brought into court to testify, afterwards both sides usually thanked me for my testimony stating they appreciated the clarity I brought to the situation. As time went on many of these same attorneys were approaching me for help, guidance and consultation.
Finally my mother, who was a highly successful clinical and forensic psychologist, said to me “it’s time to build up your reputation as an expert witness.” It was perplexing at first, the thought of going before a judge without being subpoenaed and actually volunteering to do it, but after much deliberation I made the leap. Once there the anxiety faded quickly and I realized the expert witness work was another exercise in intellectual honesty. Fact finding, review of materials, comparing the facts of the case with accepted and proven theories, integration of many information sources and separating the good from the garbage.
But my true gift was the ability to make the abstract concrete. My training in special education was primarily focused on taking the abstract and making it concrete. When the intangible becomes tangible combined with a heavy dose of intellectual honesty it allows courts and juries to be able to make quality decisions. It facilitates productive pretrial meetings between both sides and lends itself to depositions which are more productive than they are acrimonious. Providing clarity is a core competency for an expert witness, being able to impose a context on a structureless situation helps all sides.
Along the way I also learned the critical lesson of history. That if you don’t know how a current concept came to be, over time, you will never really grasp it.
And while my two academic mentors pushed me to find the empirical “truth” in every sentence, I began to realize that this rigor was more than just a hurdle for graduation—it was the foundation for a new kind of professional identity.
From Red Ink to Expert Testimony
Those early days of “drowning in red ink” were my first real introduction to the standard of intellectual honesty required in the legal and clinical worlds. I learned that to truly help others, especially in a courtroom or a high-stakes clinical setting, my “passion” for a case was secondary to the evidence I could produce.
In my journey toward becoming an expert witness, I discovered that mastery isn’t about having all the answers; it’s about the discipline of the process. It is the “quiet strength” of knowing your facts so thoroughly that no amount of cross-examination can shake your foundation.
Monetizing the Passion for Truth
The advice I received from that woman on the flight and the bartender in NYC finally clicked. My enjoyment of “learning and helping others” found its home in the intersection of social work and the law. By applying the same fact-checking rigor I honed in graduate school, I was able to transform a personal passion into a specialized career path.
Today, as I navigate the complexities of expert witness work, I carry those graduate school lessons with me. Every report I write and every testimony I give is fueled by that same commitment to being “intellectually honest”—ensuring that my claims are never just opinions, but are always backed by the undeniable weight of evidence.
No greater joy indeed, than the mastery of one’s craft.