Lawyer Monthly Magazine - July 2019 Edition

You have practiced as an independent expert witness employment analyst and career profiler since 1989; how have you seen the field change over your time of working? It has changed considerably. When I first started out as an expert, I found the sector was dominated by two practices, although they have since faded and overtaken by my own. As in any business there will be retirements, new entrants and changes, all of which keeps me determined to embrace change, continue to disrupt and constantly seek improvements. The personal injury field has also altered beyond recognition, mainly driven by changes in the law primarily aimed at containing costs which means the can has been kicked down the road to expert witnesses. We must be alive to this and react positively in a way to meet the demands placed upon us. To this end we devised a Jackson compliant Form H spreadsheet total estimate of costs and created a portal on our web site, CaseTracker™, allowing clients to track the progress of their instructions and download the completed report. An incidental benefit is that CaseTracker™ has completely eliminated the outflow of paper from our office, thus helping us achieve our environmental objectives. To be recognised as a reputable and professional business, it is essential we operate to very high standards which are normally associated with much larger businesses. TGA is accredited to the international quality standards ISO 9001 and 14001 (management and Trevor Gilbert OBE is the Chairman of the eponymous Trevor Gilbert & Associates, widely regarded as the UK’s leading employment expert witness practice. Below, he speaks about practicing as an independent expert witness and how he devises a loss of earning report in civil litigation cases. environment) and our team works to prescribed service levels and KPIs. We have been recognised by the personal injury legal industry as leading suppliers of services on seven occasions, six times winning the prestigious national Personal Injury Awards (between 2012 and 2018) and, in 2019, by Modern Law Awards. What evidence do you usually need to provide when working on settlement negotiations in personal injury / clinical negligence cases? Firstly, I should make it clear we do not work on settlement negotiations, which is the remit of our instructing solicitors. The evidence we need in order to prepare a report on loss of earnings is, firstly, a very clear letter of instruction, evidence of employment history and earnings, education where appropriate and also relevant expert medical reports, as employment experts must be led by the medical evidence. We must also take into account the evidence of the claimant, either through witness statements or the results of interview. My team is extremely skilled at interviewing. Do labour market conditions impact the conclusion you may come to? If so, how? In most cases, yes. In a ‘but for the accident/negligence’ scenario, depending on the complexity of the case it may be the case that labour market conditions can assist the claimant’s case. For example, if investigations showed at the time of the accident there was a high demand for this specific occupation, it would re-enforce the claim as opposed to there being more candidates than jobs which would weaken the case. What labour market information does is fill in the gaps. It assists in providing a snapshot as to the claimant’s potential place within it at any given time. However, it does not provide sufficient focus in my view where, for example, a claimant lives in a remote rural location. Can you share more about how you devise a loss of earning report in civil litigation cases? What challenges may arise for you? This is a very good question. At TGA we approach cases entirely differently to that of our competitors. In effect, we write a narrative in occupational terms: where the claimant has come from (employment history), where they are now (as a result of the accident, referencing medical reports) and our assessment given the foregoing as to what type of work and earnings they might achieve. All reports are centred on the claimant as without him/her the case would not be running. Like any book, a report has to have a beginning, middle and end. That means identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the claimant’s employment history followed by extensive research which may support or undermine the claim. As independent and impartial experts, it is vital we are as scrupulously fair as can be in our reporting and deliver a range of opinion where possible, although Devising a Loss of Earning Report PERSONAL INJURY LITIGATION “ Like any book, a report has to have a beginning, middle and end. That means identifying the strengths and weaknesses in the claimant’s employment history followed by extensive research which may support or undermine the claim. JUL 2019 58 Expert Witness www. lawyer-monthly .com