Here Caren Scott, founder and Managing Director, explains the very personal story that led her to launch Inspire MediLaw – which is now one of the leading providers of medico-legal training in the UK. Q: Tell us about your reasons for starting Inspire MediLaw. I’ve worked in the health and legal sectors for more than […]
Good communication. Clear instructions. Prompt payment. Plenty of notice of deadlines and Court dates. Acknowledgement of work done. Constructive feedback. Is this how you would characterise your experience of working with lawyers? Understanding what is involved in complex clinical negligence case management can help improve communication between experts and lawyers. In this blog, we’ll be […]
As a medico-legal expert, you will find that your reputation precedes you in the niche area of clinical negligence litigation. It is vital to ensure that the professionals in this sector have positive things to say about you! Lawyers look for a range of characteristics in an expert. Some come naturally, others need to be […]
Here, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Mr Ken Woodburn, reflects on our two-day expert witness training: “I had undertaken a small number of medico-legal reports throughout my 20-year consultant career, and prepared a small number of joint expert statements but had no medico-legal Court experience. I wanted to obtain more formal training in this area to benchmark […]
Medical expert witnesses are key players in the administration of justice. The evidence of an expert is relied upon by both parties to narrow the issues being disputed in a case and inform the judge in reaching a decision. In medical negligence litigation, the Court is likely to hear expert evidence about the standard of […]
A reminder to give your sources and stick to your expert field Expert witnesses are required to make clear which facts are within their own knowledge, list their sources and say when a question or issue falls outside their expertise. In a recent case, an expert witness was criticised for failing to do so. Engie […]
Statement of Truth Expert witnesses are required by law to verify their reports with a statement of truth. That duty is set out at Civil Procedure Rules Practice Direction 35, paragraph 3.3. From 1 October 2020, the rule is changing. The expert witness’s statement of truth must now acknowledge that proceedings for contempt of Court may […]
In legal cases, this issue of advocacy usually arises where an expert uses language that appears to be advocating one party’s case rather than giving independent evidence to assist the Court. However, in a recent tax case[1], the advocate sought to rely on his own expert evidence, having previously submitted a valuation report. Rather unsurprisingly the […]
What lawyers wish their experts knew…and what frustrates experts about lawyers! As we launch our 2020 surveys for medico-legal experts and lawyers, here’s a reminder of what we learned from the 2019 surveys. You can complete the 2020 surveys online now. Lawyers working with Experts We asked how lawyers identify an expert to instruct Most […]
At Inspire MediLaw, we provide dedicated expert witness training for clinicians only. We focus on the role of the medical expert witness in clinical negligence claims, emphasising how crucial it is to be an outstanding expert in this field to ensure justice is secured for both claimant and defendant parties. Our training faculty have a wealth of […]
On 18 December 2019, Her Honour Judge Melissa Clarke, the designated civil judge sitting at Oxford Combined Court, handed down judgment in Docherty v Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust (Unreported, 25, 26 and 27 November 2019). This was a clinical negligence claim in which the claimant made various allegations in respect of her immediate postnatal […]
The recent case of Bradfield-Kay v Cope[1] is interesting for two reasons. First, in a re-run of David and Goliath (without the sling), the Court preferred the evidence of the less specialist of two medical experts on the grounds that it was more logical. Secondly, it appears to be an application of the Bolitho approach […]