"Expert Witnesses in Personal Injury Cases", presentation for Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia
May 2004This is the content of a paper presented by Peter Willcock to Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia. The comments here are directed to counsel retaining expert witnesses to assist in the presentation of civil cases. His comments address four stages of involvement with experts: their selection, instruction, preparation and examination at trial.
Introduction
The following brief paper is itself a statement of opinion. Like any opinion, its value should be weighed carefully in light of the author’s training and experience. The reader should assess the advice offered here in light of her or his own experience. Like all opinion on the conduct of litigation, it is only as valuable to the extent that it proves to be useful in your labours.
The comments here are directed to counsel retaining expert witnesses to assist in the presentation of civil cases. My comments will address four stages of your involvement with experts: their selection, instruction, preparation and examination at trial. Because of the limited time available for discussion of this topic, I would simply like to make one or two points with respect to your role at each stage in the proceedings. I will briefly touch upon some recent decisions which will be canvassed by Allison Murray in her review of recent decisions in this area.
Selection
In a recent case which neatly summarises the law in this area, R. v. Nahar 2004 BCCA 77, the Court of Appeal reminded counsel that when seeking to adduce the opinion of an expert witness at trial, it is important that counsel state what fact or facts the opinion is being proffered to prove.
