The Ministry of Justice is reviewing expert witness rates for legal aid work, with a view to introducing fixed fees and hourly rates.
A working group is being set up to carry out the review, Analysis of expert Witness Fees. The group will provide further analysis of the work of experts, and follows on from the government consultation, Legal Aid: Funding Reforms, which first mooted the idea of fixed hourly rates and fees.
Last year, £205.4m of legal aid funds went towards disbursements, an increase of £13.4m from 2007–8.
In a survey of delegates attending Bond Solon’s annual expert witness conference in November, 41% of expert witnesses who work in legal aid said they would continue if hourly rates went down, while 59% said they would stop.
Mark Solon, solicitor of Bond Solon Training, says: “Expert witnesses are not like solicitors and barristers, many of whom roll over and accept legal aid cuts. Experts have a day job and do expert witness work to create a lucrative secondary source of income.
“The indications are that many will prefer the quiet life of their own work than an increasingly dangerous fore into litigation with potential civil liability and disciplinary action. The cuts may mean the poor litigant will get the poor expert.”
