Peter Smith and Hannah McDonald write for Expert Witness Journal on the use of experts in international arbitration

Proving your case may require relying on the evidence of experts to give their professional opinion on technical issues. The use of experts in disputes is longstanding, both in courts and arbitration, with records from an Admiralty case heard in England in 1345 showing reliance on an expert to determine if a wound was fresh. Historic court cases aside, expert evidence in arbitration (both domestic and international) is ubiquitous.

International arbitration generally recognises two sorts of experts, namely those appointed by the parties (a practice drawn from the common law), and those appointed by the tribunal (a practice drawn from the civil law).

Party-appointed experts are found in arbitration far more often than tribunal-appointed ones, whose appointments are limited to cases where the tribunal considers it would benefit from expert evidence but the parties have failed to appoint their own experts, or (even more rarely) where the parties have appointed experts but the tribunal believes it needs its own expert to assist with its consideration of the evidence of the party-appointed experts.

In a joint article for Expert Witness Journal, Peter Smith, Legal Director, and Hannah McDonald, Senior Associate, shed light on party-appointed experts, how they are chosen, give their evidence, and what the future may hold for them...

In the piece they cover:

• The need for experts
• Selection and appointment
• Neutrality of party-appointed experts
• Exchange of expert evidence
• Single joint experts and joint reports
• ‘Hot tubbing’
• The future of experts and expert evidence in international arbitration

Read the full piece in the August edition of the journal:  August EWJ 24 - Journal - Page 97 (paperturn-view.com)  (page 94)