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Selecting the best

18 September 2008
Issue: 7337 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness
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Part one: Mark Solon considers the skills and qualities of the right expert

Expert advice and evidence can be crucial to the outcome of many civil disputes. Solicitors and their clients invariably benefit from early specialist advice in disputes about technical or scientific matters, and in potential professional negligence claims. The right expert advice at the right time can prevent weak claims from being pursued, and can help to isolate the key issues in claims with a good prospect of success.

Judges are greatly assisted by explanations by experts of the facts and issues in many technical cases; they frequently rely upon medical and valuation reports to assess the quantum of claims (as varied as personal injury and those arising from building projects) and are dependent upon quality opinion evidence, often from more than one source, to help them to decide professional negligence claims.

Conversely, unnecessary or inappropriate evidence from experts can add considerable expense but little value, and poor reports or oral evidence from experts with insufficient expertise, or who fail to understand their role,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

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Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
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