Facilitation

Courts are now requiring that expert witnesses in proceedings jointly discuss areas of agreement and disagreement prior to giving evidence in court. What follows from these Joint Expert Conferences / Conclaves, is the drafting of a Joint Expert Report that sets out these matters, including concise reasons for any disagreement. Streamlining expert evidence through conclaves is becoming increasingly common, particularly where courts are confronted with the possibility of conflicting expert opinions.

Joint Expert Reports must be signed by all participating experts before being forwarded to the Court. They are highly beneficial to court proceedings, as they narrow the contested issues and can lead to a substantial time and cost savings.

For more information of the advantages of Joint Expert Conferences, please visit Supreme Court Practice Note No. SC Gen 11. See also judgment of Campbell J

The practical problems for experts meeting in conclave and responding to the questions and/or issues posed by the parties’ lawyers have proven substantial. It is becoming increasingly common for parties to appoint a Facilitator to chair the meeting of the experts and draft a Joint Report, based on the discussions in the Conclave.

The Facilitator is objective and independent of each parties’ interests. He/she does not seek to persuade the participants of any matter other than to meet the Court’s Practice Note for Joint Conferences of Expert Witnesses. To this end, the Facilitator does not engage in advocacy or mediation, but rather chairs the meeting, explores areas for agreement and reduces the opinions of experts on the questions or issues posed, to written form.

Jeremy has experience in facilitating conclaves in a diverse range of areas involving multiple participants via video link, teleconference and face-to-face meetings. He is used for his ability to understand the technical issues being debated, for drafting Joint Reports that accurately reflects the position of each expert on each issue and that will assist the Court.