header-logo header-logo

19 May 2023 / Mark Solon
Issue: 8025 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness
printer mail-detail

Expert witness first impressions

122319
Mark Solon provides a concise guide to early-stage expert reports
  • Practical tips for experts and instructing solicitors on early-stage advisory reports and screening reports.

As well as giving evidence at court and compiling expert reports, expert witnesses can also be asked to provide a brief advisory report or a screening report at an early stage.

What is a brief advisory report?

This is a short report provided by an expert after consideration of some, but not usually all, the material in the possible dispute. It is sought by instructing solicitors before proceedings are issued, when they are weighing up the merits of their client’s case. If an expert is instructed by a claimant, they will be asked to look at whether there is merit in the claim to warrant launching proceedings, and if by a defendant, to consider whether the client has a strong enough defence to the claim to warrant defending it.

Timing

The instruction will take place at the earliest stage of the litigation process, even before proceedings have been launched. In a civil action, a claimant

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Hogan Lovells—Lisa Quelch

Partner hire strengthens global infrastructure and energy financing practice

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Sherrards—Jan Kunstyr

Legal director bolsters international expertise in dispute resolution team

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Muckle LLP—Stacey Brown

Corporate governance and company law specialist joins the team

NEWS

NOTICE UNDER THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925

HERBERT SMITH STAFF PENSION SCHEME (THE “SCHEME”)

NOTICE TO CREDITORS AND BENEFICIARIES UNDER SECTION 27 OF THE TRUSTEE ACT 1925
Law firm HFW is offering clients lawyers on call for dawn raids, sanctions issues and other regulatory emergencies
From gender-critical speech to notice periods and incapability dismissals, employment law continues to turn on fine distinctions. In his latest employment law brief for NLJ, Ian Smith of Norwich Law School reviews a cluster of recent decisions, led by Bailey v Stonewall, where the Court of Appeal clarified the limits of third-party liability under the Equality Act
Non-molestation orders are meant to be the frontline defence against domestic abuse, yet their enforcement often falls short. Writing in NLJ this week, Jeni Kavanagh, Jessica Mortimer and Oliver Kavanagh analyse why the criminalisation of breach has failed to deliver consistent protection
Assisted dying remains one of the most fraught fault lines in English law, where compassion and criminal liability sit uncomfortably close. Writing in NLJ this week, Julie Gowland and Barny Croft of Birketts examine how acts motivated by care—booking travel, completing paperwork, or offering emotional support—can still fall within the wide reach of the Suicide Act 1961
back-to-top-scroll