Practice

Evidence - joint expert's report - party dissatisfied with report - not precluded from obtaining report from another expertDaniels v Walker: CA (Lord Woolf MR and Latham LJ): 3 May 2000

The claimant claimed damages from the defendant after being severely injured in a road accident.The defendant admitted liability, but there was a dispute as to whether full-time or part-time care was needed for the claimant.

The parties agreed to jointly instruct an occupational therapist but the defendant was unhappy with her recommendations and applied for permission to obtain and rely upon the evidence of another expert.

The judge refused the application and the defendant appealed.Anthony Temple QC and Martin Spencer (instructed by John Stallard & Co, Worcester) for the defendant.

Ralph Lewis QC (instructed by Russell Jones & Walker, Birmingham) for the claimant.Held, allowing the appeal, that the instruction of an expert jointly by the parties should be regarded as the first step in obtaining expert evidence on a particular issue; that if, having obtained an expert's report, a party for reasons which were not fanciful wished to obtain further information before deciding whether there was a particular part of the expert's report which he wished to challenge, then he should be permitted to obtain that evidence; that where a modest sum was involved a court might take a more rigorous approach and say that it would be disproportionate to obtain a second report in any circumstances and the dissatisfied party should merely put a question to the expert who had already prepared a report; but that the present case involved a substantial sum on the issue as to whether full-time or part-time care was required and it was perfectly reasonable for the defendant to say that he would like to have the claimant examined by another expert.

(WLR)