Shortly after the close of the trial, the Claimants sought permission to rely on a short further addendum report from their expert in PRC law, Mr X. The Judge refused the application on the grounds that it would not be fair or proportionate to admit further expert evidence from Mr X.

The Civil Justice Council (‘CJC’) has published an Interim Report and Consultation on the Use of AI for preparing court documents. The focus of the consultation paper is whether court rules are required to regulate the use of AI by legal representatives. However, the consultation also examines whether the use of AI by experts should be subject to court rules, with specific proposals set out in Part 8 of the consultation document.

The claimants, who own a property adjoining with the properties of the defendants, complained that the defendants engaged in various acts of trespass on, and damage to, their property. The claimants’ expert, who replaced a retiring expert, referenced and relied on a key, but erroneous, “fact” in his predecessor’s report without checking it.

In February's episode of the Expert Matters Podcast, we take a look at feedback and criticism. We go over the rules, discuss the key recent case of Kolomoisky, and hear the thoughts and advice of the members of the EWI Editorial Committee. As always, you can also listen to our 'What's going on at EWI' and 'Newsreel' segments to keep up-to-date on the latest developments in the world of expert witnesses and expert evidence. 

You can listen to the Expert Matters Podcast on a number of podcast apps, including spotify and apple podcasts. 

The claimant alleged that the second defendant, a Spanish racing driver, had repudiated a binding agreement under which he was contracted to drive for the claimants’ IndyCar team for the 2024, 2025 and 2026 racing seasons. The judge found some of the expert witnesses to be impressive and independent, while the expert evidence of others was unimpressive and disappointing.  

The Independent Review of the Criminal Courts, chaired by Sir Brian Leveson, has just published Part 2 of the Review with 135 recommendations, including some relating to expert evidence. The Review was commissioned by the government because of the backlogs that have developed in the criminal justice system. 

The case was a group litigation concerning extensive oil pollution which affected two regions in the Niger Delta in Nigeria. The judge rejected the strident criticism of the experts who were called to provide evidence on aspects of Nigerian law.

The defendant was contracted, during the Covid lockdowns, to source and supply sterile gowns, which the claimant subsequently asserted were not contractually compliant. Issues for expert evidence included the sterility of the gowns and whether the claimant could have mitigated the loss by resale.

The Forensic Science Regulator has published new Guidance on Forensic Science Activities: Interpretation and Communication. The Guidance applies to all practitioners and sets out principles and expectations for interpretation and communications of observations from forensic science activities. 

We have just completed the regular review of our Standard Expert Terms and Conditions of Engagement. The purpose of the Terms and Conditions is to help you ensure that you have appropriate contractual arrangements in place with the parties that instruct you.