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18 February 2021 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7921 / Categories: Features , Profession , Expert Witness , Technology
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Silent Witness(es)?

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The new Master of the Rolls promises civil justice shake-up. But what about the expert witnesses, asks Mark Solon
  • Where do expert witnesses fit into the incoming master of the rolls’ ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice?

The incoming Master of the Rolls (MR), Sir Geoffrey Vos QC, has indicated a ‘radical rethink’ of civil justice. His focus is on IT. 

He told the annual Bar Conference last year that international commerce ‘will be looking for dispute resolution mechanisms that are fit for new business methods which involve blockchain, cyber assets and artificial intelligence…the UK legal community needs to be ambitious in terms of digitalisation if it is to retain and enhance its status’. Showing his IT savvy, he added: ‘I hope that in my new role as head of civil justice I will be able to take a holistic look at civil justice...looking from one end at the 60 million disputes resolved annually by artificial intelligence on eBay, to the other end at the lengthy face-to-face trials that go on in the Rolls Building.’ 

Specialists

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

WSP Solicitors—David Ashcroft & Jessica O’Shea

Commercial property and child law teams expand with senior hires

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Duxton Hill Chambers—Lucas Bastin KC & Joshua Hiew

Set expands London and Singapore offering with senior international disputes hires

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Gilson Gray—Gregor Duthie & Stephen Forsyth

Firm strengthens real estate and litigation teams with partner promotions

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Five years after the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 came into force, concerns remain that the family courts continue to minimise allegations of abuse in child contact disputes
Uber has built a formidable strategy for insulating itself from liability for drivers’ conduct, but the legal terrain differs sharply between the US and England and Wales
The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Act 2026 marks a constitutional watershed by severing the centuries-old link between hereditary titles and automatic membership of the upper chamber
The Civil Justice Council’s review of Part III of the Solicitors Act 1974 could mark the end of what one commentator calls an ‘outdated’ and overly technical regime governing solicitor-client fee disputes
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