The judge in this claim for professional negligence struck out a witness statement which contained paragraphs which were pure opinion, made by the witness as a self-proclaimed expert, noting that it was expert evidence by the back door, in contravention of CPR Part 35 and plainly abusive. 

Israel Russell v Barry Coulter [2025] EWHC 493 (KB)

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This is a case in which the tribunal was critical of an expert witness. One criticism was that he did not expressly acknowledge the guidance provided in the Ikarian Reefer in his declaration – “a step taken by many experts who prepare reports for this Chamber”.

UI2023005210 [2024] UKAITUR UI2023005210

While the Judge in this extradition appeal ultimately reached the same conclusion as the District Court Judge, and dismissed the appeal, he pointed out significant deficiencies in how the District Court Judge had treated the expert psychological evidence.

This case illustrates how the Family Court depends on expert paediatric and radiological evidence to decide when and how a child’s fracture was sustained. This summary does not include how the court used the evidence. Suffice it to say that the expert evidence was only a part of the evidence before the court.  

C1 and C2 (Children: Fact Finding), Re [2024] EWFC 247 (B)

Heather Rogers is an accountant, tax practitioner and Expert Witness. Most of her cases involve director disputes or professional negligence where there is a financial element. She runs her own consultancy, Aston Accountancy Limited.

The judge preferred the evidence of the Claimant's expert because of the Defendant's expert’s approach to his task as expert, his confusion over the proper approach to what prior art was and was not in the common general knowledge, the number of assertions he made which he was forced to resile from as incorrect, and his failure to acknowledge a key fact.

The issue in this judicial review did not turn on the expert evidence but the case illustrates the role of a medical reporting organisation (MRO) in a particular civil case and there are some general learning points.

Of note, the MRO did not arrange the correction of an erroneous date, it did not recognise how the evidence set out by the expert was seemingly insufficiently referenced and it did not recognise that there would be questions as to how some of the expert’s conclusions were reached.

Ivory, R (On the Application Of) v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council [2025] EWCA Civ 21

In the 9th episode of the Expert Matters Podcast, we look at how to become an Expert Witnesss. If you think expert witness work might be for you, don't miss the great advice in this month's episode where we talk to the wider EWI team on expert witness training, how to become an EWI member, and the key next steps to get your practice up and running, from setting up your business, terms and conditions, and insurance to sorting out your CV, marketing strategy and web presence.

The judge found that the forensic accounting expert’s approach of forming an opinion as to the value of the Company, then carrying out a detailed calculation and only if it matches his initial opinion accepting it, undermined the credibility and reliability of his opinion as to the value of the Company.