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10 June 2020 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7890 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness
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Conference call

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Expert witnesses at a conference with counsel—a practical guide—compiled by Mark Solon
  • This guide is intended to help expert witnesses understand the purpose of a conference with counsel.
  • If you are a lawyer, you can cut out and keep this article to pass to your expert if they are to attend a conference. I will focus on civil claims but similar principles apply to arbitrations, criminal and family matters. 

A conference between the expert and counsel is an important stage in the litigation process. Both lawyers and experts should prepare carefully to ensure conferences are as effective as possible. Many problems ranging from embarrassment to criminal proceedings can be avoided if a conference is conducted properly.

The starting point for the instruction of experts in civil claims is the guidance issued by the Civil Justice Council (https://bit.ly/3dE9VG5). The purpose of this guidance is to assist litigants, those instructing experts and experts to understand best practice in complying with Pt 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and court orders.

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Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
Family law must shift from conflict-driven litigation to child-centred problem-solving, according to a major new report. Writing in NLJ this week, Caroline Bowden of Anthony Gold outlines findings showing overwhelming support for reform, with 92% agreeing lawyers owe duties to children as well as clients
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