Deposition and trial testimony on residential value, and appraisal review of another appraiser's work, for attorneys handling family law, probate, and property disputes across Tarrant, Parker, and Johnson counties.
These are separate assignments with separate scopes, and mixing them up creates problems on cross-examination. Decide which one you want before you call, or describe the problem and I will tell you which fits.
The distinction that matters most is the second. An appraisal review under USPAP is an opinion about the quality of another appraiser's work: whether the analysis is adequate, whether the data supports the conclusions, whether the report is misleading. It is not automatically a second opinion of value. A reviewer may or may not develop an independent opinion of value as part of the review, and either way that has to be stated in the scope of work and in the review report. If you need both a critique and a number, say so and I will scope both.
Texas Rule of Evidence 702 provides that a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion if the expert's scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue. Qualification is only the entry ticket; the trial court also acts as gatekeeper on reliability.
In E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. v. Robinson, 923 S.W.2d 549 (Tex. 1995), the Texas Supreme Court set out six non-exclusive reliability factors: the extent to which the theory has been or can be tested; the extent to which the technique relies upon the subjective interpretation of the expert; whether the theory has been subjected to peer review or publication; the potential rate of error; whether it is generally accepted as valid by the relevant community; and the non-judicial uses made of it. The parallel federal standard comes from Daubert and Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
Those factors were framed with scientific evidence in mind and do not fit every field neatly. For testimony grounded in experience rather than scientific method, Texas courts following Gammill v. Jack Williams Chevrolet ask whether there is too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion. That is the right frame for appraisal, and a useful discipline: subjectivity is where a residential appraisal is most exposed, so every adjustment should trace to market evidence rather than to my judgment alone, and the report should show that trace.
No part of my fee depends on the value I conclude, on the verdict, or on whether my testimony comes in. USPAP prohibits it and litigation is where that rule matters most.
USPAP's ETHICS RULE requires an appraiser to perform assignments with impartiality, objectivity, and independence, and without accommodation of personal interests, and states that an appraiser must not advocate the cause or interest of any party or issue. That obligation does not switch off because a lawyer retained me. My client is counsel; my opinion is not counsel's to shape.
For the attorneys I work with, that turns out to be the useful part. An expert who will say anything is worth nothing under cross-examination. What I offer instead is an opinion I can hold under pressure and a candid read on where your own position is soft, delivered before you have committed to it in a pleading.
Most review assignments arrive as some version of: this number is wrong, tell me why. What I can tell you is whether the methods were appropriate, whether the comparable sales were reasonably selected and correctly reported, whether the adjustments were supported or simply asserted, whether the effective date and property rights appraised suited the intended use, whether the scope of work was sufficient, and whether the report is misleading as written.
Sometimes the answer is that the report has real problems. Sometimes the answer is that the work is competent and the other side's number is defensible even if your client dislikes it. You get whichever answer the file supports. A review that finds no errors is still worth what you paid, because it stops you from spending trial time on an attack that will not land.
A USPAP Standard 3 review evaluates another appraiser's work. Whether the reviewer also develops an independent opinion of value must be stated in the scope of work — tell me which you need.
Most of my litigation work sits in three areas. Family law, where a marital residence has to be valued for a just and right division under Texas Family Code §7.001, or where a reimbursement claim under §3.402 turns on enhancement in value from improvements. Probate and trust disputes, where beneficiaries disagree about what a house was worth on a date of death or where a fiduciary's handling of a sale is questioned. And property disputes generally: partition suits, co-owner buyout disagreements, and claims measured by a change in residential value.
Tarrant County family cases are heard in the 231st, 233rd, 322nd, 324th, 325th, and 360th district courts, and probate matters in Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2. I have testified in Tarrant, Parker, and Johnson County courts. Often the testimony itself never happens — parties tend to reach agreement once they know an appraiser is coming to testify.
The most common way expert valuation evidence gets damaged is timing. An appraisal ordered after the designation deadline, or a review commissioned three days before a deposition, limits what any expert can responsibly do. Retrospective analysis takes time, property access sometimes has to be arranged through opposing counsel, and a report written under pressure gives cross-examination something to hold.
Retention through counsel keeps the file clean. Send me the case name and parties for a conflict check, the property address, the effective dates you need, the disclosure and discovery deadlines from the scheduling order, and any prior appraisals already in the case. If a review is contemplated, I need the report being reviewed and whatever exhibits or data came with it.
Send the case style for a conflict check along with the scheduling order deadlines. Early retention is the difference between a considered analysis and a rushed one.
I keep a workfile for every assignment as USPAP requires, and I expect it to be requested. It is built from the start on the assumption that someone hostile will read it: sources documented, verification noted, adjustment support retained, communications handled as though they will be produced. What is discoverable is a question for counsel and the court; my job is to make sure the file holds up to it.
Before testimony I want a working session with counsel to walk the analysis, identify the two or three points most likely to be attacked, and settle how technical the direct should get. In the room I explain the reasoning in plain language, concede what should be conceded, and decline to speculate beyond my assignment. Appraisers who over-answer lose credibility faster than appraisers who admit the limits of what they analyzed.
Texas Certified Residential covers one-to-four unit residential property and vacant land whose highest and best use is one-to-four family residential. That is the boundary of what I will appraise, review, or testify about. Texas Certified Residential Appraiser #1360232, 15 years in practice.
I do not take commercial assignments, apartment properties of five units or more, or land valued for subdivision development, and I do not review reports on those property types. I offer no opinions on business value, personal property, construction cost, engineering, or the legal effect of anything. If your case needs an expert outside my scope, you will hear that in the first conversation.
The appraisal or review itself is quoted as a set fee in advance. Deposition, trial testimony, preparation, and travel are billed hourly at rates set out in the engagement letter. Deposition and trial testimony are billed at $350 per hour, portal to portal, under a $2,000 retainer that is applied against time actually incurred. A reserved deposition or trial date cancelled on less than two business days' notice is billed at four hours.
Referring professional
“I've worked with Terrence at Clearfork Appraisals on several occasions over the last few years, and have referred him to numerous clients. He's able to take on complex appraisals leveraging his years of experience, and is able to explain the basis for his valuations in clear and understandable terms.”John Staab · Google review
The appraisal or review is quoted as a set fee in advance, and testimony time is billed hourly under the engagement letter. Deposition and trial testimony are billed at $350 per hour, portal to portal, under a $2,000 retainer applied against time actually incurred. Nothing is contingent on the value, the verdict, or whether the testimony is admitted.
Yes. That is an appraisal review under USPAP Standards 3 and 4, and it is a distinct assignment from developing my own appraisal. I will tell you what the report does and does not support, including when the answer is that the other appraiser's work is sound. Send me the report and any exhibits or data that came with it.
A review evaluates the quality of another appraiser's work; a second appraisal develops an independent opinion of value. Under USPAP a reviewer may also develop an independent opinion of value, but only if that is stated in the scope of work and disclosed in the review report. They are priced differently and they get attacked differently at trial, so decide which one your case needs before engaging anyone.
I will testify to whatever my analysis supports, and I will not agree to a number in advance. USPAP requires impartiality, objectivity, and independence and prohibits advocating the cause or interest of any party. If my conclusion does not help your position, you will hear it from me early, before it is in a report and before you have built a pleading around it.
As much as you can give, and well before the expert designation deadline if an appraisal is part of the engagement. Retrospective analysis, property access through opposing counsel, and review of an existing file all take real time. Two weeks is the working minimum for a deposition date, and more when an appraisal or a file review has to be completed first.
I have testified in Tarrant, Parker, and Johnson County courts. Often the testimony itself never happens — parties tend to reach agreement once they know an appraiser is coming to testify. Tarrant County family cases are heard in the 231st, 233rd, 322nd, 324th, 325th, and 360th district courts, and probate matters in Probate Court No. 1 and Probate Court No. 2. A current curriculum vitae with testimony history is available on request.
No, and no appraiser should. USPAP prohibits accepting an assignment or a compensation arrangement contingent on reporting a predetermined result, on assignment results favoring the client's cause, on the amount of a value opinion, or on the attainment of a stipulated result. Beyond the ethics problem, a contingent fee is a gift to opposing counsel on cross-examination.
Unsupported adjustments, more than anything else. Under the Robinson framework a court looks at, among other things, the extent to which a technique relies on the subjective interpretation of the expert, and Texas courts also ask whether there is too great an analytical gap between the data and the opinion. Comparable sales chosen without stated criteria, adjustments with no market support, an effective date that does not match the legal question, and a scope of work that skipped the interior are the recurring weak points.
Written fee quote, typically within one business hour. Conflict checks are same-day, and a current CV with testimony history is available on request.
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