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My company, via our field agents, take many witness statements on behalf of our solicitor clients. Our overriding principle is that the statement has to be claimant's authentic account of what happened, both in terms of detail and language. In RTA claims the weather is often a major issue relating to visibility eg fog or low sun and road surface, in terms of stopping distance if wet or icy.

With gentle guidance we seek to cover the liability, medical history and effects of the accident to address the liability and quantum aspects, whilst maintaining the client's narrative style. However we do believe it necessary to include the "formulaic" topics of drink, drugs and seat belt use for example so that the court is fully aware of the facts that will have a bearing on the matter.

I agree with Mr Etherington that this is not a job for the most junior person available, but he has to take each client and their incident as he finds them.