One in four experts reported being pressured into providing biased takes, a survey found
UK Solicitors Regulation Authority chief executive Paul Philip has encouraged expert witnesses to report unethical conduct displayed by solicitors or other witnesses, reported the Law Society Gazette.
“It is not the job of the expert witness to assist the claim and the instructing solicitors should not be acting in any way that would undermine your impartiality or your independence as an expert witness,” Philip said during a conference held on 8 November. “They should never be putting an expert under pressure to change the substance of the evidence, or particularly, to benefit the claim or to benefit the client.”
He also said that potential conflicts of interest, as well as of information that was likely to impact a witness’ credibility, should be disclosed to courts and other parties before an expert witness presented their evidence.
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According to the 2024 Bond Solon Expert Witness Survey, one in four experts reported being pressured by solicitors in providing biased takes. Moreover, more than a third encountered “hired guns” – experts who were paid to offer opinions that benefited the case of the party who paid them.
“‘If the solicitor’s putting pressure on you…I think it’s the type of thing you really ought to report to the SRA. If these things go unchecked, they will just continue. And quite frankly, the only way to get the solicitor to pay attention is to draw the attention of the regulator in relation to that,” Philip said.
However, Philip did not commit to delivering a process through which experts could report solicitors to the SRA – something more than 90% of 2024 Bond Solon Expert Witness Survey respondents sought. Respondents also expressed wanting sanctions against solicitors who drove experts to violate their duty to the court.
“It may be time now for the SRA to introduce specific regulations to improve the professional relationship between experts and solicitors. It would also be helpful if the SRA provided specific regulations regarding solicitors exercising due diligence in the selection and instruction of experts,” Bond Solon founder Mark Solon said in a statement published by the Gazette.