14 January Case Updates Justice for people with a hearing impairment Capacity, 06. Rules and Regulations, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, Hearing impairment A psychiatrist whose evidence had often been admitted in capacity cases was assisted in this case of a hearing-impaired person by an interpreter who had British Sign Language (BSL) Level 1 training. Her assessment was subsequently criticised as she conducted the assessment without ‘suitable specialist learning support’. For psychiatrists and psychologists, the case illustrates the importance, in the case of some hearing-impaired subjects, of being assisted, or of the assessment being carried out, by a psychologist or psychiatrist who has experience of the assessment and treatment of hearing-disabled people. Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council v KZ (Rev1) [2024] EWCOP 72 (T3)
29 October Case Updates Pfizer Inc v Uniqure Biopharma BV [2024] EWHC 2672 (Pat) 06. Rules and Regulations, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 15. Giving Oral Evidence, 16. Criticism and Complaints The judge in this patent case found that the claimants’ gene therapy expert had developed, quite possibly guided by lawyers, the understanding that the primary duty of an expert witness is not to say anything that may damage the instructing party’s case if it can be avoided.
16 October Case Updates Jennings v Otis Ltd [2023] EWHC 2039 (KB) Negligence, Experts’ joint inspection, Accident, Engineering, 06. Rules and Regulations, 07. Receiving Instructions, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 13. Experts Discussions and Joint Statements Witness attendance at experts’ meeting
16 October Case Updates PA011122020 [2023] UKAITUR PA011122020 Psychiatry, Risk assessment, Clinical veracity, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 15. Giving Oral Evidence, 10. Records Assessments and Site Visits Even more on clinical veracity … and risk assessment
8 August Case Updates Scarcliffe v Brampton Valley Gp Ltd [2023] EWHC 1565 (KB) Care, Change of opinion, Orthopaedics, Team membership, Biopsychosocial model, 11. Report Writing, 14. Changing your opinion, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 10. Records Assessments and Site Visits “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir” (John Maynard Keynes)
7 February Case Updates Snow v Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust [2023] EWHC 42 (KB) Independence, Urology, Colorectal surgery, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties “Who is responsible for providing the expert with copies of relevant medical and scientific publications?”
3 January Case Updates Re AB (Child Abuse: Expert Witnesses) [1994] EWHC Fam 5 Child abuse, Experts duty, Paediatrics, Brittle bone density, 06. Rules and Regulations, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 15. Giving Oral Evidence, 16. Criticism and Complaints “The hazards of flying a kite in court”
25 October Case Updates R v Fitzsimmons v [2022] NICC 27 Bias, Voice attribution experts, Visual identification experts, Acoustic analysis, Auditory analysis, 07. Receiving Instructions, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 10. Records Assessments and Site Visits “Can your paper trail be followed?”
10 August Case Updates Gallagher v Gallagher (No.2) (Financial Remedies) [2022] EWFC 53 Hot-tubbing, Impartiality, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 15. Giving Oral Evidence Topics: Experts’ duties Impartiality Concurrent expert evidence (‘hot-tubbing’)
13 June Case Updates HA (Expert Evidence; Mental Health) Sri Lanka [2022] UKUT 00111 (IAC) Psychology, Psychiatry, 11. Report Writing, 08. Working with Instructing Parties, 15. Giving Oral Evidence, 10. Records Assessments and Site Visits Topics: Psychiatric reports Expert’s declaration Self-report questionnaires Suicide risk General practitioner records Qualifications and experience PHQ-9 GAD-7