A majority of expert witnesses believe they should have to undergo mandatory training in court skills and report writing, research has revealed.


A survey released at the annual Bond Solon conference last week found that 58% of the 203 experts who replied said training in expert witness skills should be mandatory. Some 78% said they should also be accredited by their respective professional bodies.



The survey revealed that the average annual income earned for their expert witness work had risen by almost a fifth, to more than £120,000, since the previous year's survey. Almost half (45%) said the number of instructions they received had increased and 67% said they were either optimistic or very optimistic about their expert work in the future.



The research showed that 50% of respondents felt solicitors still used them as an adversarial tool, rather than encouraging them to be a 'truly independent witness'. While more than half of the experts said solicitors instructed them just in time, 80% said they were paid late or very late and 55% said they would never work for some firms again. One in five respondents said they were not insured for their expert witness work.



Mark Solon, solicitor and director of legal training consultancy Bond Solon, said: 'This raises an interesting point about how many solicitors check whether their expert is insured. I don't think it's common practice.'



More generally he said: 'The expert witness world is booming. They're being well paid, and standards are improving.'



He added: 'The days of the amateur expert are over. People who go into this field realise they need to be trained to avoid disciplinary action from their professional bodies.'



Catherine Baksi