Dr Chris Pamplin analyses the results of the 2017 UK Register of Expert Witnesses’ expert witness survey
- Experts’ average fees and cancellation fees, impact of the Jackson reforms, court appearances, workload, outlook and average number of reports.
As the largest multidisciplinary expert witness community in the UK, the individuals listed in the UK Register of Expert Witnesses represent an unrivalled source of information on matters of importance to experts and those who instruct them. Since 1995, the Register has regularly conducted surveys of its expert witnesses. The following analysis is based on the latest survey conducted over the summer.
The experts
Of the 201 experts who responded by the end of August 2017, 107 were medical practitioners. Of the remaining 94 experts, 21 were engineers, 18 were in professions ancillary to medicine, 12 were accountants or bankers, 16 had scientific, veterinary or agricultural qualifications, 13 were surveyors or valuers and six were architects or building experts. The small ‘others’ category totalled eight.
Work status & workload
Of the respondents, 39% undertake expert witness work full time, with 46% part-time and 28% describing themselves
