PI Brief Update

Ten reasons you have the wrong expert - Dr Mark Burgin

30/04/24. Dr Mark Burgin reveals ten reasons you may have the wrong expert.

1. Specialists: An expert too focused will miss key issues crucial to the case
2. Popular: Close ties to solicitors could raise concerns about impartiality.
3. In current practice: Consider a full-time expert for a more responsive service.
4. Law: Using wrong legal tests and not following CPR35.
5. Cheap: Pay the expert or risk essential elements being missed.
6. Quick: A comprehensive report requires dedicated time and research.
7. Report factory: one-size-fits-all reports are created in a factory.
8. Experience: Focus on experience directly relevant to the case.
9. Too good to be true: Hired gun experts do not base their opinions on evidence.
10. ‘I am not an expert’: Failing to offer an opinion and refer to other experts.

A full time, generalist unpopular expert who charges a little more, takes a bit more time to produce a report that is complex, addresses the issues directly and contains difficult material with a good understanding of the law may not sound like the perfect expert. Working with this expert will not be easy and will put the lawyer on a learning curve.

A complete and detailed report may be more difficult for the lawyers to understand but will be preferred by the court. Judges understandably become annoyed by superficial expert reports that add little to the case. This type of report fills the gaps in the lawyer’s understanding and truly provides an expert opinion.

Lawyers should focus on an expert who is a good fit with their case. The expert should have a record of being independent and writing detailed reports. When approaching experts listen to their advice, the barrister may have misunderstood the material issues. Go directly to experts as agencies only pass on 30% of your fee.

Avoid experts who are too good to be true and prefer those who make you think. Each case has its own complexity and you are wasting money instructing an expert who just refers to another expert. Generalists such as GPs and disability analysts can deal with all the issues as they are experts in complexity. They can explain when you need a further opinion on a specific point.

A simple report that says what you want it to is not likely to comply with CPR35. These factory reports are written to a standard template and contain little real information. A report that dissects the issues medically and legally is much more useful. The opinions should be both for and against your client as this makes the report robust and reliable.

Doctor Mark Burgin, BM BCh (oxon) MRCGP is on the General Practitioner Specialist Register and is a Disability Analyst.

Dr. Burgin can be contacted on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and 0845 331 3304 website drmarkburgin.co.uk

This is part of a series of articles by Dr. Mark Burgin. The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own, not those of Law Brief Publishing Ltd, and are not necessarily commensurate with general legal or medico-legal expert consensus of opinion and/or literature. Any medical content is not exhaustive but at a level for the non-medical reader to understand.

Image ©iStockphoto.com/J-Elgaard