Building and Property

Jackson LJ addresses RICS experts on ADR

On 8 March the RICS held its annual Expert Witness Conference at London’s Grange Holborn Hotel: the first since the landmark ruling in Jones v Kaney removed expert witness immunity. The conference was billed “…an invaluable opportunity to assess how the landscape has changed for expert witnesses both from a legal and a practice perspective.”

The Rt Hon Lord Justice Jackson gave the keynote address at the start of the day. The architect of the Government’s controversial civil law reforms spoke on the issue of The Role of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Furthering the Aims of The Civil Litigation Costs Review.

Lord Jackson began by explaining the place alternative dispute resolution (ADR), and particularly mediation, had in the Civil Litigation Costs Review final report, whose resultant Bill is now before Parliament. He noted that the construction industry had been at the forefront of resolving disputes by ADR and that it had had a “wide impact” upon all the professionals in the audience.

He reviewed the role the courts had in promoting the use of ADR and the sanctions available to the courts where there was ‘unreasonable’ refusal to use the process, such as cost sanctions. There could be, however, occasions when a party would agree to mediate (“to tick the Halsey box”) and then mediate unreasonably, or abandon mediation.

There were many reasons why mediation or other ADR is the preferred option, but Lord Jackson came down against compulsion. “I do not agree with the proposals made for sanctions, including sanctions against all parties,” His Lordship said. Instead, he favours education, and a campaign: “…to ensure that all litigation lawyers and judges (not just some litigation lawyers and judges) are properly informed about the benefits which ADR can bring [and] to alert the public and small businesses to the benefits of ADR.”

Lord Jackson was the biggest name in a panel of authoritative speakers at the conference, which was designed to help the professionals who either act as expert witnesses or appoint experts. Other subjects addressed were how to assess what constitutes a successful professional negligence claim, understanding professional indemnity insurance for experts and how to identify the practical problems faced by experts. In particular an interactive session offered tips on how to give evidence in the ‘hot tub’, the new method of bringing experts together to give evidence.

Io sono un Neurologo, in ruolo all’Ospedale Acquistare Senza Ricetta Priligy online di Lavagna come Dirigente di Neurologia, e svolgo da 15 anni i test elettrofisiologici per la diagnosi di impotenza maschile neurogena.