In the sixth article in the Working with expert witnesses series, Alexandra Winch a Partner at Stewarts, discusses her experience of joint expert meetings. 

This research has provided the first-ever assessment of the size and characteristics of the Expert Witness workforce in the UK.

This month on the Expert Matters Podcast, Simon and EWI's Membership Manager, Will Watkiss, discuss the EWI's project to map the Expert Witness workforce. We talk to Will Jackson from Whitespace Strategy who led the initial stage of the project, discuss the EWI survey of expert witnesses, and talk about the project's findings. After listening to the podcast, you can click on the link in the shownotes and read the full findings in the Workforce Mapping Research Report. 

We have revised our recently published Guidance for experts on acting for litigants in person. After engagement with members, we have decided to amend our advice on whether to act for litigants in person to balance more appropriately the importance of facilitating access to justice while retaining appropriate safeguards for experts. 

Laura Langley, 38, was alleged to have killed her seven-week-old daughter Edith who collapsed at the family home in Blackpool, Lancashire, in the early hours of 20 November 2020. The Judge found that the expert evidence in the case of Professor G, of Professor N and of Professor D each at times fell below the high standard expected of expert witnesses giving evidence before the family court in this jurisdiction. This judgment illustrates a number of important lessons for expert witnesses. The criticisms go well beyond a disagreement between experts—they concern the duties of an expert to the court. An expert who appears to defend a predetermined hypothesis rather than follow the evidence risks losing credibility entirely, regardless of their qualifications or experience. This judgment illustrates that methodological rigour, transparency, and impartiality are essential to persuasive expert testimony.

The RICS has recently published the 5th edition of its Surveyors acting as expert witnesses professional standard (‘standard’). We participated in the RICS consultation on the draft standard, and we are pleased to note that most of the issues we raised have been addressed in the final published standard and practice guidance. However, we continue to have concerns that the standard and the practice guidance may have the potential to mislead experts into not fully complying with the applicable rules and regulations. 

The Appellant, a citizen of Tajikistan, was appealing the Respondent’s decision to refuse his protection claim. The Judge gained the distinct impression that the Appellant’s expert witness was simply advocating on behalf of the Appellant, rather than assisting the Tribunal by providing a critical, objective expert opinion on the context. In doing so, he trespassed into the role reserved for the Tribunal.

The Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses (ERE) Pledge has transferred from its founding host organisation (AlixPartners) to the custodianship of the Expert Witness Institute and has been subsumed into EWI activities. This will ensure that EWI are in a position to take payments, employ staff, and provide the support for the ERE Pledge and the ERE Executive Committee.

Having written in Hospital Update, 48 years ago, about routine parenteral thiamine alongside prophylaxis or treatment of alcohol withdrawal symptoms, I read this with great interest. It should be of interest to physicians and psychiatrists but what is striking are the lessons for all experts. There is a long section in which the judge is critical of some of the experts and their evidence.

The applicant, who required leases over mineral rights, could not agree with the owners of those rights on compensation and valuation issues. The expert witnesses for both parties had previously acted as expert advisors to their clients. However, while one expert witness understood that their role was not to advocate for a particular party or outcome but to assist the court, the other expert was unable to disassociate their longstanding role as an expert advisor from their duties to the court.