News and Insights

National Pro Bono Day The fortunes of a case often hinge on the testimony of an expert witness. At ExpertsDirect, National Pro Bono Day celebrates

  “Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that’s diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference

  This International Women’s Day, ExpertsDirect would like to urge those in the legal sector to continue to break the bias. In legal practice and

By Howard Elliot This article discusses the difficulties and considerations relevant to developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for expert witnesses to aid in the analysis

  Eastbound Estate Pty Ltd v DC Consolidated Investments Pty Ltd [2024] VSC 40 In this case, the court gave little weight to expert evidence that

  On 19 December 2023, Lee J admitted evidence adduced by Network Ten from a forensic lip reader. Mr R, a forensic lip reader, had

  Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Expert Evidence) [2023] FCA 1577 In this case, the court ruled on the admissibility of an expert report of

  Palmanova Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia [2023] FCA 1391 In this case, an expert’s report was challenged on the basis she did not have

  Anderson v Yongpairojwong [2023] NSWSC 1359 In this case, the court considered the weight to be given to evidence of expert physicians who had not

  Stradford (a pseudonym) v Judge Vasta (No 2) [2023] FCA 1364 In this “unique and unusual” case, the court weighed in on whether a party

  Ghorbanzadeh v Western Sydney Local Health District [2023] NSWSC 1330 In this case, the court considered whether handwritten notes made by an expert which he

  Davis v Perry O’Brien Engineering Pty Ltd [2023] QSC 243 In this case, the methodology employed by a valuation expert, together with his personal friendship

  McNickle v Huntsman Chemical Company Australia Pty Ltd (Evidentiary Ruling) [2023] FCA 1268 This evidential ruling in a class action concerning the alleged carcinogenic

  In Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited (No 2) [2023] FCA 1217, the evidence of an expert with “real

  Jensen & Anor v Valuer-General (No 2) [2023] QLC 13 In this case, the court considered the issue of independence and bias in the context

  Sanofi v Amgen Inc (No 2) [2023] FCA 1156 Sanofi appealed a decision of a delegate of the Commissioner of Patents in respect of proceedings

  Hastwell v Parmegiani** [2023] NSWSC 1016** In this case, the court upheld an expert’s entitlement to immunity from suit, notwithstanding that the expert’s report

  Note: this case concerns the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules in force in Queensland. The issue of whether a document consisting of a statement or

  In this case, an expert relied upon a number of documents supporting the plaintiff’s claim and which lay the foundation for his expert opinion,

  When will an application for an expert to give evidence remotely be disallowed? Czaplinksi v Collette [2023] ACTSC 155 In this case, the first

  Can Multiple Experts Write an Expert Report? Introduction Expert reports are subject to expert codes of conduct, court directions and civil procedure rules of

  Tredders Investments Pty Ltd as trustee for Warren Tredrea Trust v Channel 9 South Australia (No 2) [2023] FCA 698 In this case, the court

  ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) uses an artificial language learning model to imitate a human response to a query. Many consider the technology impressive for

  Enkelmann v Stewart [2023] QSC 111 Note: this case concerns the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules in force in Queensland. The issue of whether a document

CZD v CZE [2023] SGHC 86 In this case, the Court directed that practitioners should take note of O 12 r 2(1) of the Rules

New Aim Pty Ltd v Leung [2023] FCAFC 67 In a long awaited appeal decision, the Full Court of the Federal Court has found that

Background In this case, the court had to decide whether a determination made by a nominated accountant constituted an expert determination for the purposes of

For information purposes only – When will an expert’s report be exempt from compliance with legislative and procedural requirements?  Security Matters Limited, in the Matter

Lindsay-Owen v HWL Ebsworth Lawyers [2023] NSWSC 68  In this case, an expert’s opinion predicting the likely commercial decisions of a financial institution and a

In Aquarius Corporation v Haribo Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, the Appellate Division of the High Court of Singapore set aside the decision of the Court

In ACCC v Google LLC (No 2) [2022] FCA 1476, the court found the expert evidence presented, comprising two reports from the plaintiff’s expert, one

In Mundine v Forestry Corporation of NSW [2022] NSWLEC 140, the overriding principle of the just, cheap, and quick resolution of a matter took precedence

In Pirmax Pty Ltd v Kingspan Insulation Pty Ltd [2022] FCA 1340, the independence of Kingspan’s expert was attacked because of their pre-existing relationship with the company.

On Thursday 21 April 2021, a 12-member jury in the US District Court of Minnesota found Former Minneapolis Police Office Derek Chauvin guilty of the

Daniel Sosa is a Research Executive at ExpertsDirect. His experience in sourcing experts for all manner of matters has revealed to him some of the

I am a Master Mechanic with over 40 years of practical experience in repairing and modifying motorcycles, light, heavy, and racing vehicles and boats. I

Can and should experts of different areas of expertise participate in the same expert conclave? In the matter of Budgen v The Congregation of Religious

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has revised ‘Procedural Direction 3’ which defines how experts must provide evidence before the Tribunal. The recent changes,

  This month a jury has been discharged after failing to agree whether Dimitrous Gargasolous, who is accuse of driving into a crowd of people

  A dietitian for food giant Heinz has denied that the company misrepresented snacks for toddlers as health food, despite containing the equivalent of three

  David “Jackson” Mueller, the Denver radio host who was found guilty last week of groping pop megastar Taylor Swift, succeeded in an interlocutory motion

  Lawyers for American rapper Marshall ‘Eminem’ Mathers recently called on Australian composer, writer, and radio presenter Dr Andrew Ford as an expert witness in

  We have previously reported on the sweeping changes made to the regime of Expert Evidence in the Federal Court following the introduction of the

This post finishes our recent series on emerging issues and trends in Australian Class Action Litigation. In Australia, there is a steady increase in major

  As outlined in our November 2016 blog, Sweeping Changes for Federal Court Practice Notes, the Federal Court, in late 2016, issued 26 updated practice

  Gordon Wood’s landmark lawsuit against the state of New South Wales continues to highlight the need to source independent expert witnesses who are properly

 The development of s 79(2) In 2005, the Australian Law Reform Commission (‘ALRC’) proposed amendments to the uniform Evidence Law scheme to encourage the admission

  It is without doubt that expert witnesses play a vital role in the dispute resolution process. They provide insights into technical and scientific fields

  This post is our third in a series looking at recent developments in class actions. The earlier two examine competing class actions and common

  Capitol Carpets Pty Ltd v Schwartz Family Co Pty Ltd [2016] NSWSC 1753 Background This appeal stemmed from a Local Court decision concerning a

  Holdsworth & Ellison v RSPCA [2015] VCC 653  Background The case involved a dispute concerning the slaughter of cattle which occurred in the early

  It is undoubtable that expert witnesses are an invaluable tool in the legal industry. They provide the court and the jury with insights into

  The Queensland Government has recently passed legislation[1] which brings Queensland into line with the Federal Court and the Supreme Courts of New South Wales

Lisa Collins is a Senior Associate at Gilchrist Connell, where her practice centres on civil litigation with a particular focus on insurance litigation. Lisa regularly

  Our shareholder class action series continues in this post with a look at how Australian courts approach the question of ‘common fund orders’. As

  On 25 October 2016, the Federal Court issued 26 updated practice notes that will apply to future cases and cases currently underway. The new

  Australia has seen a prevalent increase in the number of class actions including the dominant rise of US-style shareholder class actions. With this in

  Numerous judicial commentators have noted that expert witnesses are one of the key factors in enhancing the cost and duration of legal disputes.[1] This

  Ibrahimi & Ors v Commonwealth of Australia (No 3) [2016] NSWSC 1438 Background This case concerned an incident off the coast of Christmas Island

Writing an expert report for the first time can be daunting. From interpreting a solicitor’s instructions to determining the appropriate tone, style, and form, experts

Dr Gregory Cameron is a general practitioner and authorised WorkCover medical practitioner based in Penrith, NSW. The founder of Healthnet Family Clinic, a multi-disciplinary surgery

  Case Study: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation v Agriculture Victoria Services Pty Ltd [2014] APO 80  Background This case considered a patent application

Generally expert witness reports do not need to be served as an affidavit. The only jurisdiction which requires an affidavit to be provided in conjunction

There are many hurdles facing the admissibility and acceptance of expert evidence. The general opinion rule provides that “if a person has specialised knowledge based

The use of expert witnesses has always had mixed reviews. In recent times, courts have lamented the apparent bias of experts in an adversarial system,

In our first blog of 2016, we will examine expert evidence horror stories and the lessons we can learn from these, including: the requirement to

In Australia, evidence of an opinion is not admissible to prove the existence of a fact[1]. This is otherwise known as the ‘opinion rule’ and

By Natasha Bian   What is an expert conclave?  Expert conclaves are pre-trial procedures directed by the court and conducted between experts in the same

  What is an expert witness? By Natasha Bian An expert witness is someone who is qualified as an expert in a certain technical field

  This article was prepared by Anuja Ng. Legal professional privilege balances the need to encourage full and frank disclosure by clients to their lawyers

  This article was prepared by Anuja Ng. What are Joint Expert Reports (JERs)? A JER is the written product of a conference (directed by