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09 March 2007 / Tamar Halevy
Issue: 7263 / Categories: Features , Legal services , Procedure & practice
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Ask the expert

It’s worth spending time on expert determination clauses. Tamar Halevy explains why

Expert determination is an effective means of deciding narrow technical points of dispute that the parties to a contract want to resolve relatively cheaply and quickly. Because of the specialist nature of the points that are normally the subject of expert determination, parties generally feel comfortable assigning full responsibility for the decision to the impartial expert, whose decision will be final and binding on the parties.

The question is, what should an expert do if an issue arises within his task that is outside his field of expertise and that he does not feel capable of resolving? In Bruce v Carpenter & Others [2006] EWHC 3301, [2006] All ER (D) 405 (Nov), the High Court took the view that the expert was required to resolve the issue himself, even if it was outside the expert’s field of expertise.

Expert determination is a popular form of dispute resolution used to resolve primarily valuation or technical disputes that arise under particular types of

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Jurit LLP—Caroline Williams

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Private wealth and tax team welcomes cross-border specialist as consultant

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Freeths—Richard Lockhart

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Infrastructure specialist joins as partner in Glasgow office

NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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