I thought to gather these blogs together after posting the first one on bias in police work. There are good references attached to some of blogs.

Bias is alive and well and lurking in the shadows but, almost without exception, not deliberate by forensic workers.

1. Is bias alive and well in police investigation? Posted September 20, 2022 This blog explains sneaky, implicit bias and offers some comment on how to deal with it plus some references. I’m certain the police officer’s comment prompting the blog was of the sneaky kind – he just didn’t know he’d been had.
2. Ridding peer review of potential bias. Posted December 30, 2019 You have a choice on how to do this as explained in the blog. The six (6) choices go from best to least. There are also a few good references referred to in the blog.
3. Are experts being broadsided by bias, unbeknownst to them? Posted April 12, 2018 I summarize bias as explained by three Toronto police officers at the two day Expert Witness Forum East in 2018. They identified eight (8) categories of bias relevant to forensic work then focused on two. Examples of bias are given including a serious one in Nova Scotia. This was a good conference; I was pleased to be invited to give a talk on the Principles Governing Cost Control in forensic work. (Ref. 1)
4. Expert witness forum looks at bias and other touchy subjects in forensic work. Posted March 8, 2018 I give a brief summary of what took place at this conference and elaborate later in a detailed blog in April, 2018 (Item #3 above). I think what I was doing with this blog back in March, 2018 was giving readers a heads-up as soon as possible of a good conference. The blog does inform on bias and is worth taking a look.
5. Biased experts cured with a soak in the “hot tub”. Posted January 31, 2017 This is a good read on an excellent method for ridding dispute resolution and insurance claim settlement of bias. The great success with this method in Australia, and the watchful eyes of newspapers like The National Post, will make it happen.
6. Would I be perceived as biased? Posted July 2, 2014 I raise an interesting question in this blog: Would I be perceived as biased if I told counsel about literature that discusses both the technical and non-technical issues – including legal issues – of a problem in the built environment? Particularly if the literature proved to be of considerable legal interest and little or no technical interest. Hmmm? The question came up on the occasion of my researching the literature on the properties of a material used in construction in the built environment.

References

1. Principles governing the cost control of dispute resolution and claim settlement involving experts. Posted July 30, 2019 with updates added September 24, 2020, March 18, 2021 and December 30, 2021.

(Posted by Eric E. Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng. Consulting Professional Engineer, Forensic Engineer, Geotechnology Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. September 27, 2022 ejorden@eastlink.ca)