Chris Makin’s Blog Posts about ‘Litigation’
Post-Nominals – do they matter?
This is a moral tale about your choice of expert. A little while ago, I wrote about Andrew Ager, an “expert” appointed by the CPS to give evidence at the trial of some men accused of the sale of voluntary carbon credits (me neither!). His incompetence, lack of experience and malpractice were quite breathtaking, causing […]
Beware Conflicts of Interest
As I write this, David Cameron is getting into increasing difficulties over his relationship with the failed financier Lex Greensill, there are problems over senior civil servants having paid jobs in the private sector, and even Matt Hancock has problems over his family connections with a firm which provided PPE to the NHS. And then […]
Is your expert an amateur?
In a recent edition of Update, the magazine of The Academy of Experts, Merryck Lowe, a forensic partner at BDO, wrote this: “There was a time when a reasonably competent professional accountant could feel comfortable if called upon to give ‘occasional’ evidence to our Courts, without further training or experience and without feeling that only […]
Can your expert truly sign the Statement of Truth?
An expert’s report under CPR must conclude with the Expert’s Declaration stating that the expert knows his duty to the court and has complied with that duty. There must then be a Statement of Truth, which used to say: I confirm that I have made clear which facts and matters referred to in this report […]
When lawyers wreck their case
In recent blogs I have gone on at some length about inadequate “experts”, and the damage they can do to your carefully prepared case. Think of Prof Sir Roy Meadow, probably the most notorious example, the proponent of “Meadow’s Law” (one cot death is unfortunate, two are suspicious, three are murder) who pretended to be […]
Family Matters
Accountants are into everything, aren’t they? And that is especially true when things go wrong. In these blogs you will have read (I hope) about how an accountant can act as expert in commercial litigation, can act as mediator in commercial disputes and much else besides, can investigate fraud, and can trace and quantify the […]
Choose your expert with care!
A sign seen in a Boston, Mass. shoe repairer’s window: “Fast Service – High Quality – Low Price – choose any two.” Is that how you choose your experts? I sincerely hope not! Here are my thoughts and suggestions, as a hard-bitten expert of 30 years’ experience. I am a chartered accountant so the slant […]
Understanding business accounts – what to look out for
Lawyers are good with words, and accountants are good with figures. What a pity they don’t talk the same language! Now meet an accountant who is good with words – I have to be, as an experienced expert witness – which means that I must be weak with figures. True? Not really! It’s a pity […]
Give us the tools…
…and we will do the job. In this case, the job is to value a holding of shares in a private company, and the tools are the details about the company which the valuer needs to be able to perform such valuation. A recent High Court (Chancery) decision should be helpful. The case is Cosmetic […]
How to get best value out of your expert
I have gone on alarmingly in the legal press about forensic accountancy, mediation and even expert determination. Perhaps it is time to talk about experts generally, and about how you litigators can use them to get best value for the benefit of your clients – and your own reputation. The first point to consider is […]