Giving Expert Witness

Giving expert witness was presented by Karen Brain, Matrix Insurance, a long-standing friend of and adviser to the Institute. She presents regularly on a wide range of topics directly relevant to marine surveyors.

As she described in this detailed presentation, the key function of an expert witness is to express an independent expert opinion based on the information that is provided. An expert witness could be engaged to give evidence at arbitrations, tribunals, and litigation. An expert witness is a person giving sworn evidence to a tribunal or court of law.

An expert witness can be anyone with knowledge or experience of a particular field or discipline beyond that to be expected of a layman. The expert witness’s duty is to give to the Court or tribunal an impartial opinion on particular aspects of matters within his expertise which are in dispute.

Karen gave a range of the special report formats that an expert witness is be expected to provide and gave a detailed synopsis of what being an expert witness entails and highlighted some of the pitfalls to avoid!

Run time: 1 hour 23 mins approx.