It is difficult to remember everything one has said or written in the past. To help remember, the expert should devise and maintain a reliable system for categorizing all prior testimony and writings. Always consult these records at the outset of a potential assignment. This system can avoid professional embarrassment to the expert, a destructive effect on the case, and the potential of legal liability for nondisclosure.

Ways to organize prior publications include listing by:

• Case name.
• Location of property, evidence or event.
• Description of the evidence-testing event.
• Date of event.
• The general or specific area of expertise involved.

The expert's system should include:

• All reports rendered.
• All articles and books written and published.
• Transcripts of all of the expert's depositions and trial testimony.

Extensive cross-indexing when the matter is fresh in the expert's mind, such as immediately after the deposition or trial testimony, will prove useful later

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