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11 October 2018 / Mark Solon
Issue: 7812 / Categories: Features , Expert Witness , Profession
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Starting out as an expert witness

Mark Solon shares some tips for would-be expert witnesses

  • Practical advice for expert witnesses.

Before you start as an expert witness, here are some warnings to put you off!

As an expert witness, you will be asked by lawyers to provide a report setting out your opinion to help a court come to a decision on an issue in dispute. You may also be asked to come to court to justify your opinion under cross examination. If you are negligent in the way you came to your opinion, you can be sued. You can also be sued on the contract with the lawyer if you do not do what you were asked, for example you do not send documentation in good time. The courts also have to make sure that the costs involved in taking a case are proportional to the amount in dispute so for example if the claim is for £10,000 then the legal costs cannot be £20,000. The court will limit what the lawyers and expert witnesses can

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Gateley Legal—Caroline Pope & Bob Maynard

Gateley Legal—Caroline Pope & Bob Maynard

Construction team bolstered by hire of senior consultant duo

Switalskis—four appointments

Switalskis—four appointments

Firm expands residential conveyancing team with quadruple appointment

mfg Solicitors—Claire Pope

mfg Solicitors—Claire Pope

Private client team welcomes senior associatein Worcester

NEWS
What safeguards apply when trust corporations are appointed as deputy by the Court of Protection? 
Disputing parties are expected to take part in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), where this is suitable for their case. At what point, however, does refusing to participate cross the threshold of ‘unreasonable’ and attract adverse costs consequences?
When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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