Expert Witnesses at a Conference with Counsel: A Pracitical Guide

Abstract

This guide is intended to help expert witnesses understand the purpose of a conference with counsel. If you are a lawyer, you can cut out and keep this article to pass to your expert if they are to attend a conference. I will focus on civil claims but similar principles apply to arbitrations, criminal and family matters. The starting point is the Guidance for the instruction of experts in civil claims by the Civil Justice Council: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/experts-guidance-cjc-aug-2014-amended-dec-8.pdf The purpose of this Guidance is to assist litigants, those instructing experts and experts to understand best practice in complying with Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and court orders. Counsel will use this to ensure the conference complies with the CPRs and experts should read and follow the Guidance. So lets look at the basics.