Quote Originally Posted by tomandtish View Post
Yes and no. It is on paper. But what's unclear in the movie is WHO got to pick the experts, and whether they are picking the right experts (they aren't). These are somewhat separate issues.

First, WHO is picking the experts? Did the investors say "You have to gets some experts in here to evaluate the place. We want Ian Malcolm and some dino people", and Hammond said "OK" and grabbed two people who he thought would be sympathetic to him ("you're supposed to be on my side.")? Or did the investors specifically insist on those three? In the book all three had done some long-distance consulting for the project before (without really knowing the end goal), so they weren't total strangers.

But more importantly, the experts they bring in are AT BEST supplemental to what they actually need. What they really needed were:

Experts in containing large animals - zoo keepers, etc.
Experts in computers to evaluate all this automated software
Experts in construction to evaluate the man-made barriers.
Etc. Etc.

The ones they brought in are a botanist (who can admittedly tell them that they have some poisonous plants), Malcolm (who as someone else stated seems to be the prophet of doom but doesn't actually have any relevant skills), and Grant, who knowledge and experience (when it comes to dino behavior) is all theoretical. These three are extremely limited in determining the viability and especially the safety of the park.

Now, is this a plot hole? Almost certainly. But if we want to explain in within the context of the movie, it's that the tour is a sop to the investors and isn't actually intended to do anything, since if you were serious then you would have invited people who actually had something useful to offer.
First off, Grant was requested by the insurance company; the lawyer says so in the cave mining scene. It's also implied by Hammond that the lawyer also selected Malcolm. ("I bring scientists, you bring a rock star")
Secondly, Malcolm definitely has relevant skills; as a chaotician, he has enough experience with complex systems to know that Hammond's plan for controlling one is impossible. Whether it's a dino preserve, a weather pattern, or a water droplet sliding off your hand is just window dressing.

Now, the zoo keeper, computer expert, and construction engineer all sound reasonable, but to the insurance company, the major problem was that these were dinosaurs. As far as they were concerned, the fact that it would be a good zoo was a given; the unknown portion was the prehistoric animals. Was that a mistake on their part? Possibly. But if they had brought all those people in, then when it failed we'd all be screaming at them for not bringing a dinosaur expert.