Case Updates

Range of Opinion is the focus of the 5th episode of the Expert Matters Podcast. We catch up with Colin Holburn, Chair of the EWI Membership Committee, to find out about the sorts of issues his committee sees in the expert reports submitted to them, before hearing advice from Colin and Lady Justice Simler on how to ensure you meet the requirement to provide a range of opinion. 

Many expert witnesses, primarily in medico-legal work, use a third-party organisation to help them in their practice. If you use an organisation which invoices the instructing solicitor for your services, you should be aware of legal developments which might affect the information that organisation needs to provide, in order to recover their bill as part of the legal costs recovered at the end of the case.

The judge found that it was without justification and entirely unecessary for an expert to question the opposing expert's professionalism and motives in selecting evidence, noting that this approach was unhelpful for the tribunal. 

One of the key roles of the Expert Witness Institute is to ensure that policy, rule and regulatory changes are informed by the experience of our members and the needs of the expert witness community and the wider justice system. In this update, we discuss our work in this area over the last 3 months.   

On 1 October 2024, the latest amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules will come into force.

The Family Procedure Rule Committee is consulting on a new draft Practice Direction 27A on court bundles.

Earlier this year, we asked our members about the single biggest change they’ve seen since they started practicing as an Expert Witness. With members from numerous disciplines who’ve been practicing from 40 years to 4 months, we expected a wide variety of insights, and we weren’t disappointed.

Simon and Sean discuss expert fees and catch up with Dominic Woodhouse from Partners in Costs to talk about cost management and budgeting in civil proceedings. 

The Forensic Science Regulator has updated its Guidance on Declarations of Compliance and Non-Compliance with the Forensic Science Regulator: Code of Practice. 

The judge noted that that the manner in which two Expert Witnesses in Chartered Surveying gave their evidence was more advocacy than opinion, with one expert’s report reading more like a skeleton argument.