GENERAL ADVICE – SEPTEMBER 2020

Choosing Your Expert

This has become a relatively common theme in this newsletter. The revisitations simply emphasise the importance of the matter.

By way of analogy, I sometimes see general practitioners referring their patients to surgeons for operative care. Inside knowledge clearly suggests that some surgeons perform at a level well below that which could be expected from their peers. The general practitioner does not realise this. The general practitioner chooses the surgeon for reasons other than specific or direct knowledge of technical competence.

Imagine therefore the difficulty that the patient faces. He or she has even less intimate knowledge of a surgeon’s competence and relies heavily upon the judgement of the general practitioner, who has already been deluded.

I assume that a similar situation exists when lawyers are requesting expert reports in either the personal injury or medical negligence spheres. I sympathise with you.

After all, opinions are usually of a very subjective nature and in the final analysis, who am I to be the judge?