The costs to resolve a dispute can be significant, whether you are bringing the claim or have had one filed against you, and understandably, you may wish to try and keep costs to a minimum in the early stages.
However, it is possible to appoint your proposed expert (or experts) in an advisory capacity, before they later move into being formally appointed as the expert. There are several steps that take place before the exchange of expert reports (filing of pleadings, disclosure and exchange of witness statements) and early appointment allows expert input into these stages. You may require an industry expert to provide an opinion on liability and/or a quantum expert who will assess the value of the claim.
In our experience there are several benefits from involving your expert early that should not require a huge amount of time and cost but will pay dividends in the long run.
Firstly, in some cases early stage expert analysis may assist with factual aspects of the case. For example, factual analysis of underlying data may assist in establishing the relevant timeline or fact pattern.
Secondly, obtaining input from your expert at an early stage can help legal teams refine their own legal strategy. An early expert assessment on both liability and quantum will enhance your understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s case. Holding this knowledge can also affect how settlement discussions are approached.
Thirdly, Expert input at an earlier stage may include a review of the draft pleadings. This can ensure that those pleadings best address the expert issues and reflect the expert’s views as far as they have been developed at that stage. Where the experts may need to rely on witness evidence, they can also ensure that the relevant points are covered by witnesses.
Disclosure is where the parties provide each other with the relevant documents that they hold. Early input into the disclosure exercise from your expert can ensure that the experts have the information they will likely need for their future expert analysis. This helps to make the process more efficient and cost effective by reducing future requests for information after the disclosure process or having experts receiving information piecemeal and potentially at different stages in the dispute process.
At Grant Thornton we have an experienced team of expert witnesses within our forensic team who act as forensic accounting and quantum experts. We are also able to draw on the expertise of partners across the rest of the firm who may act as experts on liability, and who would be supported by members of the forensics team, for example in an audit negligence case, to provide wealth management expertise in a case concerning the mismanagement of funds or an opinion on the possible restructuring plans that may be available to a company.
