I was pleased when I came across these guidelines while researching a similar topic on-line in the U.S. I was looking for more guidance for myself and my clients. I will briefly tell you about them.
The Principles were developed by lawyers – The Advocates’ Society, Ontario – to guide lawyers and the justice system. (Ref. 1) The Principles will also guide experts. To me, an engineer, they appear comprehensive and well founded. They should be read by all of us: Lawyers, insurance claims managers and consultants, experts, and our clients, and all of us be guided by them.
The Advocates` Society has identified nine (9) principles. These are stated and then commented on in the document.
As indicated in the document’s overview, it was developed and reviewed by several dozen senior lawyers representing different areas of legal practice and different organizations. Counting the credits, I can easily imagine at least three (3) dozen. That’s impressive. Senior representatives of expert organizations were not consulted. At least this is not stated.
Experts are well served now by an extensive literature, conferences and workshops. Included are the publications and meetings by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and SEAK, Inc. (Refs 2 and 3)
If the Principles were revised to reflect those developed by organizations like the above, I believe a set of principles could be produced that would serve all of us even better, particularly the justice system.
I hope to comment on the Principles in more detail later. But, because this document is so relevant to litigation, I’m telling you about it now. I’m sure many of you know about the Principles but, because they were published recently, I’m also sure many of you don’t.
References
- The Advocates` Society, Toronto, Ontario, Principles governing communicating with testifying experts June, 2014 www.advocates.ca http://www.advocates.ca/assets/files/pdf/news/The%20Advocates%20Society%20-%20Principles%20Governing%20Communications%20with%20Testifying%20Experts.pdf
- American Society of Civil Engineers, Reston, Virginia, U.S. www.asce.org
- SEAK, Inc., Falmouth, MA www.seakexperts.com