Michael Talve is using AI & Data to Transform the Expert Testimony Process

Cases can be won or lost based upon the performance, aptitude and strength of testimony from expert witnesses. Experts are permitted to testify at court due to their special, intimate knowledge in a distinctive space. But finding the right expert witness can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Michael Talve is the CEO and Founder of Expert Institute, where he has spent the last 14 years building the robust expert witness company and perfecting their platform. Their latest innovation is Expert Radar, a state-of-the-art software solution that’s redefining the way attorneys research and conduct due diligence on expert witnesses.

Expert Radar not only makes lawyers’ jobs exponentially more manageable, but it is also leveling the playing field by democratizing access to critical information, whether for a large multinational law firm or a small boutique practice. Talve emphasizes that this software is already making a significant impact in the legal field.

“One of our clients recently secured the largest single-event verdict in Kentucky – $44M – thanks to insights gained through Expert Radar,” Talve says. “We’re hearing stories, just like this one, every day – from the 4,000+ law firms already working with Expert Institute. The most prominent trial lawyers in the country count on ExpertIQ – it’s mission critical information.”

This landmark verdict was reached, in part, through leveraging the Expert Radar platform, which makes use of AI and machine learning to cut through the noise and laser-target the relevant facts. “Expert Radar provided pinpoint research on an opposing defense expert by finding written opinions that supported the standard of care the plaintiff's case was based upon," says Mark D. Alcott, counsel for the plaintiff. "After being cross-examined with his written opinions in his deposition, defense counsel decided to not call him as an expert witness at trial. Nonetheless, we played his video testimony as part of the plaintiff's proof!”

Expert Institute’s team of 250 professionals, spanning product development, research, engineering, marketing and sales, is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of legal technology. The company has approximately 40 team members focused exclusively on product development, where engineers harness AI to collect and integrate vast amounts of data into the Expert Radar system. With its advanced search capabilities, this data becomes an invaluable asset for any litigator aiming to strengthen their case.

“Now, even small law firms have access to the same level of information as the world’s largest and most sophisticated firms,” Talve says. “This is how technology should be used – empowering every attorney, regardless of their resources.”

Talve has emerged as a leading innovator in legal technology, evidenced by the success of Expert Radar and the growing demand for the platform. With over a million experts in its network and nearly 200,000 expert searches completed, Expert Institute is truly in a league of its own.

2024 has been an exciting year for Expert Institute, highlighted by a major investment from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners (LLCP), which acquired a majority equity stake from Spectrum Equity in October. LLCP’s recognition of Expert Institute’s transformative role in the legal tech market positions the company to accelerate its growth and further expand its innovative data platforms, such as Expert Radar. “Partnering with LLCP marks an exciting new chapter for Expert Institute,” says Talve. “With their support, we are better positioned than ever to expand our offerings and continue delivering cutting-edge solutions that empower our clients to achieve exceptional results.”

Our platform systematically mines all relevant data and organizes it in a way that’s never been done before. Expert Radar is revolutionizing the way litigators conduct research.

Lawdragon: Congratulations on launching Expert Radar! What can you tell us about it?

Michael Talve: Expert Radar is transforming the way attorneys review and understand the complete legal and professional history of expert witnesses. It allows attorneys to adopt a data-driven approach to their cases. On the platform, attorneys can easily see how many times a witness has testified as an expert, in what types of cases, whether they've faced any formal challenges, and the outcomes of those challenges.

Under federal rules, an expert's testimony is considered evidence, and attorneys can formally challenge that testimony based on the expert's methodology or qualifications. This is a critical data point for attorneys, and Expert Radar uses AI to compile detailed descriptions of relevant cases, including links to the actual court documents – accessible with just a click. Attorneys using Expert Radar have all the supporting legal data and documentation they need to conduct thorough research.

This is a deeply comprehensive data product that's becoming an essential tool for attorneys in their practice. When dealing with an opposing expert, having access to every deposition transcript is invaluable, and Expert Radar makes that possible.

LD: Do you specialize in any particular practice area?

MT: We work with lawyers and firms across a wide range of practice areas. Historically, we’ve had a strong focus on medical malpractice and personal injury; but with Radar, we’ve found there’s a very strong fit for a much wider swath of the legal market. We’re heavily involved in commercial litigation, securities and intellectual property cases. Our expertise spans just about every major litigation you hear about in the news – from mass tort cases involving pharmaceutical drugs or medical devices to high-profile incidents like the large container ship collision in Baltimore or the Camp Lejeune water contamination case. Additionally, we handle thousands of single-event cases each month across all 50 states – many of which don’t make headlines. In every practice area, we’ve successfully connected our clients with top expert witnesses, helping them secure favorable outcomes.

Expert Radar is an advanced platform that aggregates vast amounts of otherwise hard-to-access data, organizes and distills it, and delivers actionable insights to our clients in an efficient manner. Without Expert Radar, gathering and organizing this information would cost millions and be nearly impossible – certainly not economically viable for any individual law firm to endeavor on their own. I’m incredibly proud that we’ve developed a tool that does all this in such an efficient, scalable way, leveling the playing field for any law firm. Now, even a small law firm has access to the same data and insights as the largest and most sophisticated firms, leveraging technology in the way it was meant to be used.

LD: Can you tell us a bit about how the technology works?

MT:  Expert Radar is an industry-changing technology that’s already having a significant impact on litigation by providing attorneys with critical access to information and court data. It’s poised to become the industry standard for researching expert witnesses, judges, opposing counsel and even other participants in litigation.

Now, even a small law firm has access to the same data and insights as the largest and most sophisticated firms, leveraging technology in the way it was meant to be used.

The information Expert Radar provides is otherwise incredibly difficult to get your hands on. First, you need to know: Who is this person? What are their professional credentials? A resume or CV offers some details, but those need to be verified. Beyond that, many expert witnesses are thought leaders in their fields – they may have published hundreds of articles, been interviewed many times, appeared on television, lectured at conferences, made presentations or written books. The volume of data is overwhelming, and it would be impossible for a human to gather and organize it all on their own.

If this person is your expert witness, you need to ensure they’ve never said anything that could undermine your case or be used against your client – anything that contradicts the position they’re taking now. Conversely, if you’re researching the opposing expert, you need to uncover everything that could give you an upper hand.

Expert Radar launched about a year and a half ago, and as the system evolves with AI, it continues to improve and refine its capabilities. Now, you can simply type in the name of an expert witness and instantly gather comprehensive information about that person. Our platform systematically mines all relevant data and organizes it in a way that’s never been done before. Expert Radar is already revolutionizing the way litigators conduct research in cases like these.

LD: Tell me about some of the impact you’ve seen so far.

MT: One of our clients recently won the largest single-event verdict in Kentucky’s history – a $44M decision. This victory was entirely due to the information uncovered using Expert Radar. And this isn’t an isolated incident; we’re seeing similar outcomes in many high-stakes cases. Lawyers often call us saying, “Without Expert Radar, I never would have found this information, and I might have lost the case.”

In this particular Kentucky medical malpractice case, a woman underwent a stem cell transplant surgery. Post-surgery, her immune system was severely compromised, and according to the standard of care, she should have been given a specific antibiotic to prevent infection. Unfortunately, the treating physician did not administer it, and tragically, she passed away. The defense expert testified that the doctor had acted within the standard of care. However, using Expert Radar, the plaintiff’s attorney was able to search the defense expert’s past publications and discovered a textbook chapter the expert had written 20 years earlier. In that chapter, the expert explicitly stated that the standard of care was to administer this very antibiotic.

During the trial, the attorney presented the textbook, turned to the relevant chapter, and asked the expert, “This is your name, correct? Did you write this chapter?” The expert confirmed he had. The attorney then highlighted the passage where the expert stated the standard is to administer the antibiotic and asked, “So if this was your patient, she’d be alive today because you would have given her the antibiotic, correct?” He said, “Yes, she would be.” This revelation unfolded in front of the jurors, and the expert’s credibility was shattered on the witness stand, leading to a decisive loss for the defense.

This is exactly what Expert Radar empowers our clients to do. Without it, even a well-resourced lawyer with a team of associates and paralegals wouldn’t be able to identify, locate and sift through every relevant book chapter. And even if they did, the texts wouldn’t be searchable. Expert Radar makes this kind of in-depth research not only possible but efficient, which is why it’s been so successful.

LD: How has AI impacted this product?

MT: Without AI, sifting through vast amounts of information to identify relevant details would be incredibly time-consuming and prone to errors, such as false positives or negatives. For instance, typing an expert’s name into a search engine will yield countless results, many of which are irrelevant. Expert Radar leverages AI and machine learning to efficiently filter through that noise, ensuring that we’re focusing on the correct individual. By repeatedly training our model, we can cast a wide net, then meticulously refine the results to include only the information pertinent to the expert in question. This is a complex process, but the key lies in refining the search method by continually improving the model with numerous inputs, allowing it to become more intelligent over time. This helps us to A) identify all relevant information and B) dismiss anything that isn't relevant.

We’ve also trained the model to interpret court documents in the same way. Now, it can determine an expert’s position in a case, assess their opinion, and identify whether their testimony was challenged or dismissed, as well as the specific issues they addressed. It can even locate deposition transcripts. This creates a comprehensive narrative about everything an individual has done as an expert witness. Not only does this enhance the research capabilities of Radar, but it also strengthens our core business – helping us find the perfect expert witness for our clients with even greater precision and effectiveness.

This is a complex process, but the key lies in refining the search method by continually improving the model with numerous inputs, allowing it to become more intelligent over time.

LD: Tell us more about Expert Institute and why this business has been so successful.

MT: I was aware of businesses in the financial services sector that were conducting expert-related research and consultations for hedge funds and private equity firms. When I realized that this level of sophisticated information gathering didn’t exist in the legal space, it struck me as a unique and exciting opportunity to explore.

It’s been a thrilling journey. We’ve been involved in nearly all the biggest cases happening in the country at any given time – from major train derailments and explosions to high-profile shipping accidents, like the one in Baltimore. We’re deeply engaged in the largest pharmaceutical cases, such as the opioid litigation, as well as significant one-off cases, including personal injury, medical malpractice, shootings and other tragic events. While these cases often involve unfortunate and sad circumstances, they are some of the most critical and impactful legal battles in the world, and I feel a deep sense of responsibility to help ensure the justice system works as it’s intended to.

There aren’t many businesses that can make such an impact on thousands of lives. While our clients are lawyers, we, as an organization, feel compelled to give it 110 percent every single time – because we’re really working on behalf of individuals who’ve suffered unimaginable tragedies – and they only get one shot at justice.

LD: What trends are you seeing emerge in the industry?

MT: It’s becoming increasingly clear to litigators that the right expert witness can make or break a case. Relying on a colleague’s recommendation or asking around within your network for information on an expert witness or defendant is simply not a reliable or professional approach to such a crucial task.

Take, for example, the case in Kentucky where the attorney represented the family of the woman who died from an infection. If he had lost that case, that would have been the family’s only chance at justice. Nothing can ever bring back a family member, which is the most heartbreaking part. To not do everything possible to A) find the best expert witness, and B) conduct exhaustive research to gather every piece of information available on the opposing expert or the defendant, would be tantamount to professional negligence – or even legal malpractice. At the very least, we believe our platform levels the playing field, enabling both small and large law firms to compete fairly by providing equal access to critical information.

LD: How do you see the company fitting into the future of the legal industry?

MT: We initially saw ourselves as disruptive – a company that was changing the way litigators approached their cases, conducted due diligence and performed research. But we’ve since outgrown that phase and have become a well-established player in the legal field. Our role is substantiated by the trust placed in us to work on the most significant legal matters across the country. It’s a great place to be, and we’re proud to contribute to the future of the industry.