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07 November 2019 / Dr Chris Pamplin
Issue: 7863 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness
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Expert analysis: life as an expert witness in 2019

Dr Chris Pamplin maps the results & gauges the mood of this year’s UK Register of Expert Witnesses’  survey
  • The experts who responded are much involved in expert witness work but still have a strong commitment to their professions.
  • In 2013, 40% of respondents had been asked to provide a costs budget. This had increased to 63% in 2017 but has fallen back to 47% in 2019.

As the largest multidisciplinary expert witness community in the UK, the experienced individuals listed in the UK Register of Expert Witnesses represent an unrivalled source of information on matters of importance to experts and those who instruct them. Since 1995, the Register has regularly conducted surveys of its expert witnesses. The following analysis is based on the latest survey conducted over the summer.

The experts

Of the 227 experts who responded by the end of August 2019, 96 were medical practitioners. Of the remaining experts, 37 were engineers, 18 were in professions ancillary to medicine, 15 were

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Switalskis—Naila Arif, Harriet Findlay & Ellie Thompson

Firm awards training contracts to paralegals through internal programme

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Ward Hadaway—Matthew Morton

Private client disputes specialist joins commercial litigation team

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Thomson Hayton Winkley—Nina Hood

Cumbria firm appoints new head of residential property

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
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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