While it is now normal practice in litigation and arbitration for the evidence-in-chief of technical experts to be given in the form of written expert reports, this may not always be the best way of communicating complex technical issues to the tribunal which has to decide between conflicting opinion evidence. This paper reviews modern approaches to the evidence of experts, and suggests that the written reports may need to be supplemented by an appropriately prepared oral presentation to better convey the full technical complexity and implications thereof to the tribunal.
In any litigation or arbitration on disputes with "technical" issues that are not within the common knowledge of the judge or arbitrator (the tribunal), expert evidence is essential to assist the tribunal in understanding the relevant facts. Unlike other witnesses of fact (lay witnesses), a properly qualified expert is permitted to give opinion evidence within the scope of their expertise and field of knowledge.
The experts may not fully comprehend what their paramount duty to the tribunal entails.
Concurrent expert evidence in the hearing, colloquially referred to as "hot tubbing".
Some issues that may arise from these techniques are discussed in the following sections.