Lessons Learned
- Polarisation of issues and unwillingness to concede issues
- Failure to stay within the confines of one’s expertise
- Not agreeing or conceding the non-essential issues after exchange of reports
- Experts are paid for their services, and instructed by one party only; some bias is inevitable and corruption a possibility
- Aggressive questioning by lawyers may lead to the presentation of an inaccurate picture, misleading the court/tribunal and frustrating the expert
- Expecting a judge to resolve a substantial disagreement concerning a field of expertise when the judge has no criteria by which to evaluate the opinions
- Success may depend on the plausibility or self-confidence of the expert rather than the expert’s professional competence