Appraiser Is Also Expert Witness
John Boucher commercial appraiser John F. Boucher & Associates
Accomplishment: Building a commercial appraisal business, in the Richmond Beach area, which specializes in litigation-related work. Boucher acts as an expert witness for attorneys in complex real estate lawsuits. He spends much of this time in court.
Boucher, who has been a commercial appraiser for 30 years, started his own company in 1970.
"Somewhere, I have a copy of the first check we received from the state highway department. That's what we ate on, at first," Boucher says.
Currently, he works with two other associate appraisers and a secretary. He may add one more associate appraiser to replace his daughter, who left the company to become a full-time mother, he says.
About 95 percent of the cases he's involved in settle before Boucher reaches the witness stand, but the other 5 percent provide quite a challenge. "Cross examination gets the toughest . . . . It provides an opportunity to think on your feet," Boucher says.
Cross examination is when the lawyer for the other side tries to poke holes in a witness's testimony. Experience helps, Boucher says, but the real key to success comes from being fully prepared to respond to any questions a lawyer might ask.
Sometimes Boucher is in court representing a public entity. Other times he is there representing a landowner. Boucher says he tries to maintain a 50-50 split between public and private clients.
"I won't risk my reputation by stretching things, but I'll represent whichever side calls first," he says.
Virtually all of Boucher's work comes from attorneys or other appraisers, he says. Boucher accepts both hourly and flat-fee jobs, depending on the circumstances.
Boucher started in the appraisal business 30 years ago, through a contact with a friend in the industry. At the time, Boucher didn't even know what an appraiser did. Since then, Boucher has taken numerous appraisal-related courses, earned membership in the Appraisal Institute (MAI), and taught appraisal courses at Shoreline Community College.
Boucher, 63, has no plans to retire. The job can be high pressure, he says, but, for the most part, it's enjoyable.
In his free time, Boucher collects antique fountain pens. "I haunt antique stores and trade them (pens) around with other collectors," he says.
Boucher's collection includes 300 pens dating from the turn of the century through the 1960s. Each day, he takes a different pen to work and has only lost one. "It was a terrible disappointment," he says.
Boucher also likes old cars, but he keeps the collection down to just one - a 1948 Chrysler. "Fountain pens don't take up as much space," he says.
Quote: "This industry has been good to me. We've never run out of work."
Secret: Success as an expert witness requires working with good attorneys, being prepared and never doing anything that would harm your reputation and your credibility, he says. "The highest compliment is for the other side to ask me to be on their side in another case," he says.
Advice: "I recommend it as a business . . . It's challenging and creative," Boucher says. It can also be lucrative. Appraisal companies typically charge from $75 per hour to $150 per hour. Many appraisers work for appraisal companies, such as Boucher's, as independent contractors and receive half the fee as their compensation.
Reported by Times Snohomish County bureau reporter Karen Milburn. Send your nominations for Secret of My Success to The Times bureau.