Single party expert or joint expert - which is best?

In many cases expert witnesses are often required to help establish liability or to quantify claims. There are 2 ways to instruct an expert witness in a case. An expert can be instructed on an individual basis by just one party or on a joint basis by both parties involved in a dispute. If an expert is instructed by just one party, then they are known as a single party expert and if instructed jointly the expert will be a joint expert. But which type of expert is best for you?

There are a number of things to consider when deciding on how an expert should be instructed. There are positives and negatives to both types of experts, and it will often depend on the facts of each individual case as to which is the best type of expert to choose. We have set out some of the positives and negatives below to make it a little easier to assist you in making that important decision:

Single party expert – The positives

• The other side (your opponent) has no input at all into the instructions so you have complete control over contents of the instructions and what documents are included within these instructions (although it is worth noting that all relevant documents will need to be disclosed in the future if proceedings are issued, regardless of whether these documents are harmful to your case). 
• If you are not happy with the contents of the report, it does not need to be disclosed and you can ask questions and even instruct a further expert yourself to see whether their opinion is the same before deciding on how to proceed.

Single party expert – The negatives

• The cost of instructing the expert is your sole responsibility. Expert reports are generally quite expensive, and you will need to cover these costs alone. 
• Just because you have obtained an expert report does not mean that there will not be a second expert with a differing opinion. Your opponent may obtain their own expert report which disagrees with your expert’s report, potentially increasing costs further.

Joint expert – The positives

• The costs of instructing the expert are often shared equally. 
• Once the expert report is obtained, it is disclosed to both parties, meaning the position is clear to everyone involved. 
• It can sometimes help to resolve a case more quickly if the parties both agree to accept the expert’s opinion.

Joint expert – The negatives

• You must agree the instructions with the other side. This can take time and there may be disagreements about the contents of the instructions or the documents that should be sent with them, which could increase costs. 
• The parties cannot have their own private conversations with the experts. This means that you cannot choose what you disclose to the other side or seek a second opinion/clarification on something without the other side knowing. 
• The report is disclosed to both parties at the same time This means that the other side may have sight of a report that is not positive to your case or that you disagree with. 
• As the expert will have been instructed jointly it will be more difficult to argue against the contents of the report.
• In land cases, the Court has recently considered that a joint expert report was enough to constitute a binding boundary agreement between the parties. This could lead to an outcome that the parties are bound by without even having the opportunity to discuss it first. The word of warning here is to be clear in the instructions to the expert.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider when deciding what type of expert to instruct. There is no set right or wrong answer here as each case has its own specific facts which may influence the type of expert that is best to instruct. If you instruct Stephensons Solicitors LLP in relation to your case we will guide you to the best type of expert for your case, discussing all of the potential risks with you. Contact us today on 0161 696 6178 to speak with our specialist solicitors.