Expert witnesses: High Court grants permission for change of experts on condition of disclosure of certain documents prepared by the experts or recording their views

A recent decision illustrates how the court will exercise its discretion in considering whether to grant permission to substitute a new expert, and whether to require the disclosure of draft reports and other documents as a condition of granting permission: Avantage (Cheshire) Ltd v GB Building Solutions Ltd [2023] EWHC 802 (TCC). It is well … Read more

Commercial litigation podcast series – Episode 9: General update

In this ninth episode of our series of commercial litigation update podcasts, we give a brief update on developments relating to Brexit, and discuss some recent cases on factual witness and expert evidence. We also look at a recent Civil Justice Council report on compulsory ADR and finally we discuss an important Supreme Court decision … Read more

Previous expert’s draft report did not have to be disclosed where court had already granted permission to rely on a different expert

Where a claimant had already been granted permission to call an expert, and it later came to light that the claimant had previously instructed a different expert, the High Court refused to impose a condition requiring disclosure of the previous expert’s privileged draft report: Bowman v Thomson [2019] EWHC 269 (QB). The court endorsed the … Read more

Permission for expert evidence of financial market practice refused in relation to allegations of dishonesty but granted for other purposes

In a recent decision, the High Court refused  the defendant financial advisers and agents permission to call expert evidence of financial market practices in relation to an allegation that they had acted dishonestly: Carr v Formation Group Plc [2018] EWHC 3116. The court noted that the standard of honesty is an objective one, and it … Read more

Amended provisions for concurrent expert evidence or “hot-tubbing” now in force

Amendments to Practice Direction 35.11, which governs the procedure for concurrent expert evidence, or “hot-tubbing”, have now come into force after receiving ministerial sign-off on Tuesday this week. The amendments implement a number of recommendations made by the Civil Justice Council report on Concurrent Expert Evidence & ‘Hot-Tubbing’ in English Litigation since the ‘Jackson Reforms’ which was … Read more