Driver Trett Digest Issue 25 - Flipbook - Page 18
'WANNABE' AN EXPERT?!
Mark Wheeler
Head of Diales Expert Witness Services
Not a week goes by without a CV or
two crossing my desk from someone
who has been a project manager,
an engineer, an architect, a quantity
surveyor, or someone with some
planning and delay analysis skills, who
has decided that they are an expert.
Ultimately, what might it be like to
be cross-examined in a Court or a
Tribunal by someone who is highly
skilled in that process, and will in
all likelihood, disagree vehemently
with your views?
A number of these applicants come
with a great deal of enthusiasm, energy,
and self-belief and they are ready to
take the plunge into the heady world of
providing expert reports. It will come
as no surprise to readers of the Digest
that not everyone who applies has
those capabilities, and most, if not all,
will require some focussed and detailed
development in order to achieve the
required levels of competency to
provide expert testimony.
We have arranged training days in the
past, in which aspiring experts can,
in a mock interview environment,
experience what it is like to tread in
an expert’s shoes. A number will drop
out at this point or simply say that
they have decided it is not for them.
For the remainder, the following step
is to ensure that they are fully trained
and ready for their first assignment.
This process involves ensuring that
they have the skills required including
report writing.
There are several stages to our filtration
process. The first of these is ensuring
that people interested in pursuing this
particular career have the required
levels of experience in their own
discipline, and the highest possible
levels of technical competence.
It is unusual to lose a high number
of candidates at this point as most
will understand as a given, that these
are the most basic and essential
requirements. It is, however, surprising
how many people fail at the next stage,
which is solidly understanding what
an expert does, their responsibilities
(which are significant), and the level of
work that goes into producing a good
quality expert report.
The next stage of the process for our
team is to explain in clear terms what
those responsibilities might be.
What will the level of work and effort be
to produce a quality expert report?
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Writing a technical report, coming
up with a solution for a client, and
preparing a proposal is a completely
different science to writing an expert
report. There are numerous guidelines
available to assist in this process in
various practice directions, and through
a number of industry institutions or
bodies. However, it is surprising how
challenging some aspiring experts find
moving away from purely technical
reports, that are often solution based,
to providing expert opinion against a
clear set of criteria and instructions.
Once the written work is up to scratch
there is a training programme for
aspiring, and even established experts,
to hone their court room skills and
ensure that they are giving evidence in
the right way - competently and clearly
with a focus on their duties to the
Court and Tribunal. This is the stage
at which it is really important to gain
some confidence, and also a stage at
which many struggle to progress to an
adequate standard.
The final stage, when you have reached
the right level of competence is of
course to take your first commission.
This process will often involve being
an assistant to an established expert
on several occasions, in order to build
relationships with instructing lawyers
and clients. Diales experts find they
are well supported during this stage,
with an existing expert looking over all
of their work product, providing advice
and help to ensure quality is being
delivered.
To be clear, the opinion is always that
of the testifying expert, but when it
is your first appointment, having a
senior colleague to bounce things of
off can be invaluable, and
help in building confidence.
This process can take three
or four years and is managed
through the Diales Development
Group, run by Keith Strutt, one of our
most experienced experts. The criteria
are clearly set out in
detail, and an
assessment on the
10 competencies
is set out in an
assessment
form that maps
progressively
higher standards
of experience and
competence.
Experience shows
that less than 1 in 10
of those applying to
become an expert
make it through the
process to become
an established
testifying Diales
expert. However, this
should not put you off
if you are considering this career step.
