Expert witness training
Conference with Counsel Course (Online)
The Conference with Counsel can really make or break a clinical negligence case so it’s vital that medical expert witnesses understand their role in the process.
This medico-legal training course will help you develop your skills in preparing for, and taking part in, Conference with Counsel sessions. It takes around four hours to complete.
Key elements of the course:
- Watch the UK’s leading medico-legal experts explain how the conference works and how to prepare.
- Complete a practical exercise to develop your skills in preparing for a conference.
- Observe a mock conference – helping you to build your skills in dealing with robust exchanges and challenges to your evidence.
Learning outcomes
On the course, you’ll:
- learn how the conference works and the processes involved
- find out how to prepare effectively for a conference
- learn how evidence is tested and how to deal with robust challenges
- look at the likely follow-up actions.
Gain CPD points
On completion of the course, you will receive a CPD certificate (for four hours).
Find out more about our other courses on Report Writing, the Meeting of Experts and Giving Evidence in Court.
Course overview
Task 1 – Videos featuring Paul Sankey, Dr Tom Boyd and Mr Richard Kerr
Our experts discuss the purpose of the Conference with Counsel and how it fits into the litigation process. They will talk you through the format, share tips for preparing for and attending the conference, and look at the likely follow-up actions.
Task 2 – Review of the agenda
Having read Dr Simon Fox KC’s agenda for our mock conference, you will complete a practical task outlining how you would prepare for this conference.
Task 3 – Observation exercise
For the next task, you observe a mock claimant Conference with Counsel, involving the instructing solicitor, medical expert and client.
By observing these exchanges, you will build your understanding of how the Conference with Counsel works and how the evidence is tested. You will learn about the importance of detailed preparation and develop your techniques for dealing with robust challenges to your opinion.
Task 4 – Short assessment
In this final part of the course, you will reflect on what you have seen in the mock conference by completing some multiple-choice questions.
Feedback on our online courses
I really enjoyed the modules and found them to be very interactive, taking the same case through from report writing to trial with a simulated meeting of experts and conference with counsel.
The option to get face-to-face feedback on my report was hugely beneficial, along with the ability to ‘ask an expert’ on other practicalities around becoming a medico-legal expert. I found the speakers very good and their expertise in the field was very evident, making my understanding of the more complex legal bits easier than I had thought it would be!
Dr Gavin Tunnard, Consultant in Emergency Medicine