Chris Makin’s Blog Posts about ‘Litigation’
Has Your Expert Still Not Been In The Hot Tub Yet?
We in the litigation industry have talked for some time about hot tubbing, an idea which Lord Justice Jackson hoped we might adopt. In fact, the first blog I posted in 2012 on what was then my new website was on this very subject. It even included a picture of me and a couple of young […]
Is Your Expert Dual Qualified?
…or, like the car in the picture, will your case come a cropper when your expert “struts his stuff” at trial? In the old days, a reasonably competent chartered accountant could feel quite comfortable giving expert evidence at trial, without special training, and without feeling that one needed to be a member of that exalted […]
Is This The Worst Expert Witness Ever?
CPR 35 and the family and criminal equivalents are quite clear: the expert has an overriding duty to the court, irrespective of who instructs them or by whom they are paid. That seems quite straightforward, and the vast majority of experts (including me, I fervently hope!) are very careful to meet such requirements. But for […]
The Sturm Und Drang Of Partnerships
“Partnership is the relation which subsists between persons carrying on a business in common with a view of profit.” – Partnership Act 1890, Section 1(1). Sounds easy, doesn’t it? A group of like-minded people putting all their skills and enthusiasms into running an enterprise – a legal practice, say – and sharing the fruits of […]
Do You Need An Expert In Hot Tubs?
Silly question, I know, but you more alert litigators will recognise that I’m talking about concurrent evidence. Now, you may think “hot-tubbing” means having a couple of experts in a Jacuzzi, or being boiled alive in a missionary pot. Not so; but either way, it’s likely to make your experts sweat unless they are very […]
Expert Accountants – When Should You Use One To Estimate Loss Of Earnings?
The answer in a nutshell is when professional experience is required to assist the Court to understand a party’s financial affairs. Kemp & Kemp, excellent in many ways, used to deal only very briefly with loss of income for the self-employed, the member of a family business, and the senior executive whose pay and benefits […]