EXPERT WITNESS


Ten Golden Rules of Loss Prevention for Expert Witnesses


ITIC was formed in 1992 through the merger of CISBA CLUB, a mutual insurer of shipbrokers, founded in 1925, and Transport Intermediaries Mutual Insurance Association (TIM).


Transport Intermediaries Mutual Insurance Association was formed in 1985 by Thomas R. Miller & Sons partnership with a view to expanding the sources and availability of liability insurance for all professionals in the transport industry. Since 1992, ITIC has grown steadily and has nearly 2,300 members in over 100 countries.


Today ITIC is managed by ITIM Co Ltd, a subsidiary of Thomas Miller & Co Ltd. Thomas Miller manages a number of world-leading mutual and other insurance companies providing insurance for shipping, transport and professional indemnity risks, including UK P&I Club, TT Club, HAMIA, BLP, OPDU, PAMIA and Bar Mutual.


42 | The Report • March 2019 • Issue 87


These are ten golden rules drawn from ITIC’s experience of defending experts...


1 A lot of appointments are


casual. If you are a professional then you should have terms and conditions. ITIC has drafted some standard trading conditions for expert witnesses which can be found later in this article. These trading conditions may need adapting to your specific circumstances but are a good starting point. Contracting on a sensible basis will greatly assist if a dispute arises.


2 To err is human – the answer is


insurance. The professional’s clients should be able to expect that if the professional makes a mistake there is a reasonable sum available to compensate them. Meeting this expectation underpins confidence in the professional’s marketplace. That is one of the roles of professional indemnity insurance.


In addition to the potential liabilities, even an “innocent” expert can face substantial legal costs dealing with a claim. At best only a proportion of these


costs will ever be recovered. One important consideration is that appointment as an expert is a personal appointment rather than a company one. Make sure your company’s policy covers you, as an individual, when acting as an expert, and not just when you are acting in the name of the company. Once you have appropriate terms and conditions and insurance there are some important considerations about how you perform your duties.


3 Don’t allow your desire to


help your client blind you to the evidence. Our adversarial system doesn’t help. You will be described as “our expert” and the opponent’s witness as “their expert”. In spite of this, you are there to be an impartial expert, not an advocate of your client’s case. Problems happen if you allow yourself to over zealously “support the cause”. Your client will blame you if he loses.


4 As it says in the statement of


truth you must sign, your evidence must be your complete professional opinion. Check that you haven’t disregarded anything because it doesn’t fit your theory.


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