Expert evidence was admissible from a party to an insolvency action
In a New South Wales corporate insolvency action, an expert report by a consultant of one of the plaintiff firms was admitted into evidence by the court. The report was by Martin Madden, a senior consultant in KordaMentha, one of the plaintiff firms in the insolvency of the steelmaker Arrium Ltd. Arrium’s counsel argued that […]
Impact of technology on expert evidence in arbitration
In an article in the ACICA Review, published by the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Ruby Lee and David Van Homrigh of KordaMentha assess the experience of a year of virtual hearings in arbitration, particularly as regards expert evidence. The article is entitled ‘Expert evidence – the value-add of virtual’. The authors conclude as […]
Naming of expert witnesses found guilty of misconduct
A curious issue has arisen in Australia concerning a clinical psychologist found guilty of professional misconduct. This blog recently included a post on the primary issue. The psychologist had concluded that a father showed traits of psychopathy such that it might be dangerous to leave his child alone with him. It was found that there […]
Privilege upheld by Australian court in communication between lawyers and experts
“Justice Riordan of the Supreme Court [of Victoria] in his recent Expert Evidence Ruling confirmed that communications between lawyers and experts are permissible and will not impede the expert’s impartiality as long as there is no attempt to influence the expert’s opinion. He confirmed that there is nothing unusual or wrong with the lawyers briefing […]
Psychologist banned by professional body from acting as expert witness
An Australian psychologist has been banned from acting as an expert witness and fined AUS$20,000 because of conduct in a family law case. He attributed traits of psychopathy to the father of a child without sufficient sufficient data or clinical evidence, and suggested that the child needed protection from the father. It was found that […]
Questions should have been put to single agreed expert prior to treating his report in adversarial manner
Forsburg v. Stubbs [2019] FCCA 1884 (Federal Circuit Court of Australia, Judge Betts, 12 June 2019) – link In family law proceedings, following a report of a single agreed expert on valuation, the wife sought to adduce evidence of another expert in an adversarial manner. The court refused the application, on the grounds that questions […]