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Edited by Eric Rise,
University of Delaware
   

   
Experts in Civil Cases: An Inside View
   

Fred Prichard

       
   

Prichard penetrates the hidden regions of product liability disputes, most of which are settled through negotiation. The most decisive negotiation in product cases occurs between scientific experts and attorneys on the same side. Each must manage their own conflicting professional interests. By the time the general public sees it, such cases have undergone countless revisions, radical shifts in nature, and corresponding shifts in the roles and relative dominance of the players. There is no separating the facts of the case from the nuanced social relations of the attorneys and experts putting it together. PrichardŐs work provides fresh evidence that science and law are antagonistic yet mutually constituting institutions.

       
  Fred Prichard received his Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA. He is currently a sociology professor at West Virginia University and engaged in research and curriculum development in studies of science and law. Last year Prichard co-founded a new academic major at WVU, Criminology and Investigations, focusing on the behind-the-scenes exchanges of police, scientists, and attorneys who jointly develop and control legal cases.
       
    x, 190 pages. Index, bibliography. ISBN 1-59332-086-8.
$60.00. Published.