Orientation
Which expert answers which question
Begin with the dispute, not with the roster. Once you can state precisely what is contested, the discipline that should answer it is usually obvious.
Mapping
The dispute, and who answers it
| What is contested | The discipline | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The compensation figure | Appraisal | It is a valuation conclusion and only an appraiser can give it |
| Whether the remainder can still be developed | Land planning | Entitlement probability is a planning judgement, not a valuation one |
| Whether a proposed cure is buildable | Engineering | Grade, drainage and constructability are engineering questions |
| Whether the remaining access works | Traffic engineering | Turning paths, sight lines and movements are measurable |
| The effect on a business | Economics or forensic accounting | Where the state compensates business loss |
| Contamination or wetland constraints | Environmental | Remediation cost and regulatory limits can dominate value |
| What a replacement would cost | Construction cost | Supports the cost approach and any cure estimate |
Sequence
The order that works
Define the dispute
Not that the offer is low, but which assumption inside the agency appraisal is wrong. Everything downstream follows from this.
Get a case assessment
An experienced appraiser reading the agency report will usually identify the weakness quickly and cheaply, before anyone is formally designated.
Retain the supporting disciplines
Whatever the valuation argument depends on: planning, engineering, traffic, environmental. These have to come before the appraisal, not after it.
Retain and instruct the appraiser
With the supporting conclusions in hand, so the valuation rests on evidence rather than on the appraiser\u2019s assumption.
Test the opinions internally
Before the other side does. An opinion that cannot be defended in a practice session will not survive a deposition.
Disclose and depose
Both sides exchange and test. Most cases settle in this window.
A caution on scope
Where this site stops
This site is about experts and litigation: who testifies, how they are instructed and how their evidence is tested. It is not a valuation manual. How a condemnation appraisal is actually built, what the before and after method requires and where valuations go wrong is covered at Eminent Domain Appraisers.
The two sites are deliberately separate. One answers what the property is worth. This one answers who proves it, and how.
The expert decides the number more often than the argument does
In condemnation the facts in dispute are technical. Who presents them, and how well, is usually what the case turns on.