Report Writing

The Expert Witness Institute offers a two part report writing course. These are an integral part of our Core Training for experts.


Report Writing 1

Provides the fundamental skills needed to write high-quality expert reports.

The framework of Court rules and procedure that form the context for expert reports will be explained, as will the basic evidential writing skills necessary to produce reports that fulfill all the requirements of the litigation process.

Outline

  1. Court requirements for expert reports
  2. Statement of truth
  3. Report types
  4. Timing of the expert instruction and its implications for report content
  5. Analysing the letter of instruction to ensure report meets the brief
  6. Report structures / templates
  7. Opinion writing
  8. Efficiency, proportionality and profitability through report writing
  9. Common mistakes in report writing

CPD Hours: 7 hours

Trainer: Beth Rigby

Beth trained with a national firm specialising in personal injury litigation and qualified as a solicitor in 2007. Over the course of almost ten years in practice she was involved in a huge range of civil cases including clinical negligence, personal injury, product liability and medical devices litigation on behalf of individuals and groups. In January 2018 Beth moved to work in house for a medico-legal expert company and provides advice on report content and structure in all types of civil litigation, as well as preparing for conferences, joint expert meetings and trials. She has a unique insight into the needs of solicitors based upon her own experiences, combined with the demands of her current role and understanding from an expert’s perspective.

Forthcoming Dates


Report Writing 2

This course explores all the latest developments in expert witness report writing and provides advice and tools to enhance your report writing skills.

Building on the fundamentals of Report writing 1, you will learn techniques and strategies that will enable you to deliver more impactful evidence across increasingly complex issues.

Outline

  1. Understand the latest updates to court procedures and rules as they apply to reports
  2. Explore the fundamental categories of legal test and understand its importance in evidence
  3. Understand the thought process for applying legal tests correctly using simple and complex factual and technical scenarios
  4. Understand how to generate a list of issues prior to the production of the report
  5. Develop and enhance opinion writing skills for complex cases, such as causation, damage and quantum
  6. Understand how to deal with causation in multi-incident compensation claims
  7. Understand how to deal with the range of professional opinion on issues in dispute
  8. Learn approaches for dealing with reporting situations involving technical or complex issues

Why should you attend?

  • Receive specialist tuition on a vital area of expert witness practice
  • Learn techniques that help to identify and highlight the key issues
  • Learn how to present each stage of the opinion in a logical and ordered way
  • Understand when and how to seek guidance from instructing lawyers
  • Learn grammatical and presentational strategies that improve quality of evidence

CPD Hours: 7 Hours

Trainer: Giles Eyre

Giles Eyre is a barrister (recently retired) who practised from 9 Gough Square, London. Giles has extensive experience of conducting claims for personal injury, industrial disease and clinical negligence. He is a Recorder and a mediator on the CEDR Solve Lead Mediators Panel. He is a contributing editor of Asbestos Claims: Law, Practice and Procedure, published by 9 Gough Square and Clinical Negligence Claims - A Practical Guide, published by 9 Gough Square. He is also the co-author of Writing Medico-Legal Reports in Civil Claims, now in its second edition.

Giles regularly presents seminars for lawyers on a wide variety of topics and for expert witnesses on effective expert report writing and giving evidence.

Forthcoming Dates