Source: All England Reporter
Publisher Citation: [2007] All ER (D) 209 (Jan)
Court: Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Judge:

Buxton and Smith LJJ
Representation Christopher Limb (instructed by Fieldings Porter Solicitors, Bolton) for the claimant.
  Dominic Nolan QC (instructed by Langleys Solicitors, York) for the company.
Judgment Dates: 25 January 2007

Catchwords

Practice - Evidence - Expert evidence - Claimant being injured at workplace - Claimant bringing action against employer - Claimant being referred to orthopaedic surgeon - Experts being instructed on quantum - Claimant intending to call orthopaedic surgeon to give non-expert evidence - Whether statement by orthopaedic surgeon expression of fact or opinion.

The Case

Where a claimant had intended to call a consultant orthopaedic surgeon as a non-expert, in proceedings against his employer for damages following a workplace accident, that could be done given that the relevant parts of his statement were expressions of fact and not expressions of opinion. That conclusion could be tested by comparing his evidence against the evidence of experts that were instructed, and his employer. Further, such a result would not offend the principle of an 'equality of arms'; in the instant case, for both parties to call upon the same number of experts.

Practice Areas

If you are a LexisLibrary subscriber you can read more about this case here.

Lexis®Library

  • The All England Law Reports comprises judgments with headnotes and catchwords indicating the area of law and key issues of the case prepared by legally qualified editorsFind AllER Reports
  • Cases related to this particular case that are related to, or discuss this caseView related cases
  • Commentary discussing this particular case from LexisLibrary's comprehensive range of titles including Butterworths, Halsbury's and TolleyView related commentary