Chris Pamplin reports on some initial findings about expert evidence given concurrently from the “hot tub”
The great advantage claimed for the practice of “hot-tubbing”, a procedure that allows experts to give their evidence concurrently and for judge-led “discussion” of the expert issues, is that it saves time. The expert issues that are agreed, and those that are not, are established quickly, and the examination and cross-examination of two or more experts can often be completed in the time it would otherwise take to deal with a single witness. It enables experts to give a direct and immediate view on the opposing evidence and to comment on points as they arise. The court can then consider all aspects of the expert evidence together and while matters are still fresh in the mind.
Time is money
The old adage “time is money” has never been truer than when applied to the English civil courts, and the relative expense of expert evidence in contested proceedings is a matter that has been uppermost in the minds of those charged with reforms to the justice system.
