Expert Witness Survey 2015

Every year legal training company, Bond Solon, produce an annual survey of Expert Witnesses in the UK. We wanted to share their findings with you as an insight into the Expert Witness field. This report covers all areas of Expert Witness work and offers a great insight into some of the challenges you may or may not face. We've included some highlights below and, in bold, how Jacqueline Webb are already responding to the trends in the report. If you would like to read the whole report click on the link. 

Some highlights:

? Nearly half the experts reported an increase in the number of instructions received over the past 12 months. This trend goes against the intention of the courts to limit expert evidence to speed proceedings and reduce costs. - Jacqueline Webb are not a typical agency and do our up-most to supply our Experts with a regular flow of work. We are actively recruiting Experts in Brain, Spinal and Trauma/Orthopaedic injuries to meet our growing work demands.

? Most experts reported rates remain about the same as last year. - Jacqueline Webb increase your rates annually based on the experience you gain as an Expert.

? Although it would be of benefit to experts to help them improve the quality of their work to have feedback from the instructing solicitor or counsel, a majority reported they rarely had such feedback. - Jacqueline Webb employ a team of 1-2-1 Mentors and Quality Assurers providing you with feedback throughout the life cycle of a case. We also pass as much feedback from solicitors to our Experts as we can to aid their development.

? Most experts would like some form of mandatory accreditation to improve standards however this is expensive to implement. - Jacqueline Webb provide accredited court room training through Bond Solon or City Law School for all of our Experts.

? Experts set out their common complaints about solicitors: late payment, late instructions, poor instructions, not providing documentation, pressure to change reports etc. - Jacqueline Webb have 30 years experience in dealing with all of these scenarios and have implemented many procedures to deal with them at Head Office level, basically so you don't have to. A great example is that we pay our Experts within 40 days of completing each piece of work, regardless of whether we have been paid by the solicitor!

? Still a large proportion of experts have had bad experiences that have led them to refuse to work with certain people. - Jacqueline Webb are preferred suppliers for some of the UK's top Law Firms and many of our Experts are specifically requested  by solicitors.

Previous surveys are also on Bond Solon's website:

2014
2013
2012
2011
2010

You can be sure that we will provide you with all the tools to become a successful Expert Witness. If this report has enticed you to take on a new challenge in 2016 then please contact Simon Dickinson, our Recruitment Manager, for a confidential discussion, on 01722 342512 or [email protected].

Kind Regards

The Recruitment Team