Judging Expertise: Gender and Expert Authority in Courts

• In Event: 067 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Mobilizing Expertise

Abstract

This paper examines gender differences in how individuals acquire expert authority. I investigate disputed expert witnesses in courts (n=435) to determine whether and how the gender of contested expert witnesses relates to (1) the testimony they provide, (2) lawyers’ challenges to experts’ credibility, and (3) judges’ decisions to admit experts into court or exclude them from testifying. A mixed-methods analysis of judicial opinions from patent infringement, discrimination, and medical malpractice litigation shows that gender shapes both how witnesses present themselves as experts and how others respond to their expert claims. Differences in expert witnesses’ disputed testimony, lawyers’ challenges to opposing experts, and judges’ decisions about who may and may not testify as an expert suggest that women and men experience distinctive pathways to expert authority. Overall, by identifying gender differences in legal decisions about expert witnesses, this paper illustrates how men and women achieve expert authority in gender-specific ways.

Author

• Timothy L O'Brien, University of Evansville