Expert Witness Institute

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Expert Witness Institute The Expert Witness Institute (EWI) was launched in November 1996 to service and support experts.

It acts as a voice for the expert witness community, supporting experts from all professional disciplines and lawyers who use the services of experts. The Institute functions to encourage, train and educate experts and to improve and maintain their standards and status. The EWI actively works with a wide range of professional bodies to achieve this. The EWI is independent of outside commercial interests and is democratic, transparent and fully accountable to its members. It is a non-profit making company limited by guarantee The objective of the EWI is the support of the proper administration of justice and the early resolution of disputes through fair and unbiased expert evidence. To achieve this objective, the EWI:

Acts as a voice for expert witnesses, especially in communicating with the media. Provides support to experts of all professional disciplines
Encourages lawyers to make use of experts wherever specialised knowledge is required. Engages in the training of experts to maintain and enhance standards and their status. Works actively with other allied professional bodies and associations. Makes representations to Government and to professional bodies and associations

15/10/2026

We are delighted to announce that the Expert Witness Institute has awarded Honorary Fellowships, the highest recognition EWI can bestow, to three exceptional individuals whose contributions have had a profound impact on the expert witness community.

Congratulations to:

🏆 David Cowan - A pioneer of accommodation expert witness practice in the UK, whose dedication to excellence, mentoring, and raising professional standards has helped shape an entire discipline.

🏆 Professor Leam Craig - A distinguished psychologist whose extensive work as an expert witness, researcher, author and policy contributor has strengthened the quality, integrity and influence of expert evidence across the justice system.

🏆 Kathryn Newns - A passionate advocate for expert witness practice within psychology, whose leadership, mentorship and commitment to professional development have supported hundreds of psychologists working in medico-legal practice.

Each recipient has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to advancing expert witness standards, supporting their peers, and promoting excellence within their respective fields. Their collective contributions have strengthened not only the expert witness profession but also the administration of justice more broadly.

The Fellowships were presented at the Sir Michael Davies Lecture, and we are proud to recognise three individuals whose achievements exemplify the very best of our community.

Please join us in congratulating David, Leam and Kathryn on this well-deserved honour.

The role of expert witnesses in building safety disputes is evolving rapidly in the post-Grenfell landscape.This thought...
13/10/2026

The role of expert witnesses in building safety disputes is evolving rapidly in the post-Grenfell landscape.

This thought-provoking article by Rose Wilson and Mariya Rankin of Eversheds Sutherland, alongside Bhavina Vasishta of Rimkus, explores whether the profession needs to rethink how expert witnesses are engaged and utilised as the industry responds to the Building Safety Act 2022.

With remediation deadlines looming, an extended limitation period for claims, and increasing scrutiny on building safety decisions, experts are being asked to do more than ever before. The article raises important questions around impartiality, professional boundaries, and the growing expectation for experts to contribute not only to dispute resolution, but also to safer outcomes for residents.

A key takeaway is the need for greater clarity around the expert's role, ensuring independence is protected while allowing experts to play a meaningful part in delivering practical, compliant solutions.

An important read for anyone involved in construction disputes, building safety, regulation, or expert witness work. https://www.ewi.org.uk/News/ArticleID/1137/ArtMID/1215/preview/true

06/10/2026

What a judge could have found in a five-minute internet search, and why it mattered

A recent immigration appeal shows how quickly an expert report can lose its value.

The appellants, an elderly married couple, relied on Article 3 ECHR. They argued that removal to Bangladesh would risk a serious deterioration in their health. The judge attached little weight to the psychology expert's reports, and not because the expert lacked credentials. His qualifications were never set out in the report. The judge noted there was no CV, no employment history and no list of publications.

A brief search would have shown a doctorate, HCPC and BPS registration, more than twenty published papers and four books. None of it was in front of the court.

The judge identified two further problems:

🔹 Unclear provenance. The report didn't separate what the expert established himself from what the appellants told him and what their daughter told him. This mattered because the daughter's own statement said her parents struggled to follow anything but simple questions, yet the report recorded very detailed information from them.

🔹 Straying beyond expertise. The report ventured into medical matters and country conditions without establishing expertise in either.

The judge didn't reject the report outright. The flaws went to substance and weight, and cumulatively they left the report with little value.

The learning points:
✔ Set out your qualifications and experience clearly, with a CV if needed
✔ State the material and instructions you received
✔ Distinguish your own knowledge from what others told you
✔ Explain how you obtained information, especially from vulnerable subjects
✔ Stay within your field and on the issues in dispute

Full article can be found https://www.ewi.org.uk/News/Case-Updates/a-substantial-limit-to-its-evidential-value

These are the fundamentals of good report writing, and they're easy to overlook when you're deep in the substance of a case.

That's why we run our Basic and Advanced report writing training. They cover, amongst other things how to structure a report so your expertise, your sources and your reasoning are visible to the reader, and how to avoid the pitfalls above. https://www.ewi.org.uk/Training-and-Events/Core-Training-for-Experts/Report-Writing

Have you seen a report undermined by something that could have been fixed on the page? Share your thoughts below. 👇

What a fantastic day at the Expert Witness Institute's Scottish Medicolegal Conference, held at Glasgow's Grand Central ...
02/10/2026

What a fantastic day at the Expert Witness Institute's Scottish Medicolegal Conference, held at Glasgow's Grand Central Hotel on 18 September.

The conference brought together expert witnesses and legal professionals for a day of insightful presentations, lively panel discussion, and valuable audience interaction, exploring some of the most important and topical issues facing experts today.

Highlights included:

🔹 Lord Arthurson's keynote address, reflecting on the history and development of expert evidence, the enduring principles of the Ikarian Re**er, and the vital contribution experts make to the administration of justice.

🔹 An engaging session from Dr Lisa Gadon and Dr Michelle O'Shea on how psychologists assess, diagnose and formulate expert opinions, providing valuable insight into the journey from instruction to report.

🔹 A lively panel discussion on acceleration vs exacerbation, featuring perspectives from orthopaedic surgery, psychology and law, and examining the practical and legal challenges involved in causation evidence.

🔹 Robert Cranston's presentation on the expert's role in high-value serious injury claims, highlighting the benefits of early engagement and effective joint meetings.

🔹 A thought-provoking session from Richard Marshall on AI and Expert Evidence, exploring both the opportunities and risks AI presents for expert witness practice.

🔹 Interactive roundtable discussions focused on strengthening the solicitor-expert relationship, with delegates sharing practical ideas around communication, instructions, case management and collaboration.

Read the full write up https://www.ewi.org.uk/News/ArtMID/1215/ArticleID/1140/preview/true/Scottish-Medicolegal-Conference-2026

A huge thank you to all our speakers, panellists and delegates for making the event such a success.

We would also like to thank our sponsors for their support: ⭐ Thompsons Solicitors Scotland - Main Event Sponsor ⭐ Resolve Medicolegal - Associate Sponsor ⭐ expert geniePro - Refreshment Sponsor

We look forward to continuing the conversation at future EWI events.

A single sentence in a joint statement can significantly influence the direction of a case.That's why joint expert meeti...
01/10/2026

A single sentence in a joint statement can significantly influence the direction of a case.

That's why joint expert meetings deserve far more attention than they often receive.

In her latest article, Alexandra Winch, Partner at Stewarts Law, shares practical insights into what makes a successful joint expert meeting, the risks of poor preparation, and why experts must balance constructive discussion with maintaining their independent professional opinion.

The article highlights common pitfalls including: ✅ Unintended concessions ✅ Poor preparation ✅ Ambiguous wording ✅ Overly dominant counterparts ✅ Threats to expert independence

For experts and instructing solicitors alike, understanding the purpose of these meetings and the weight given to the resulting joint statement is essential.

📖 Read the article here: https://www.ewi.org.uk/News/ArtMID/1215/ArticleID/1129/preview/true/Working-with-Expert-Witnesses-Joint-Expert-Meetings

📅 Want to learn more? Join our Expert Discussions & Joint Statements webinar on 25 November, where we'll be sharing practical guidance and discussing real-world challenges faced by experts and legal professionals. https://www.ewi.org.uk/Training-and-Events/Event-Details/eventDateId/308

⚖️ 62% of experts act as a Single Joint Expert, but only half have been trained for itOur recent workforce research unco...
28/09/2026

⚖️ 62% of experts act as a Single Joint Expert, but only half have been trained for it

Our recent workforce research uncovered a specific gap worth calling out: while 62% of the Expert Witness workforce undertakes Single Joint Expert (SJE) work, only around half of those have completed training specifically for that role.

Acting as a Single Joint Expert isn't the same as advising a single party, it comes with its own procedural requirements, communication challenges, and pitfalls that catch out even experienced experts.

That's exactly what our Single Joint Expert training session, led by Beth Rigby, is designed to address, covering:

🔹 The practical application of CPR 35.8 and CJC Guidance for Instruction of Experts, Part 34, from the expert's perspective
🔹 The differences between Single Joint Expert work and acting as an expert advising only one party
🔹 Remuneration for Single Joint Expert work
🔹 Communication with instructing parties
🔹 Pitfalls to avoid when acting as a Single Joint Expert
🔹 Key case law, including O v B-M [2019]

Our next session is on the 8th October at 6pm.

If you're already undertaking SJE work, or expect to, this is a genuinely practical session built to close exactly the gap our research uncovered.

📖 Read the full workforce report: ewi.org.uk/workforce
🎓 Find out more about the Single Joint Expert session: https://www.ewi.org.uk/Training-and-Events/Event-Details/eventDateId/311

23/09/2026

The training gap

📊 What our workforce research revealed about training

Following our first-ever mapping of the UK Expert Witness workforce, one finding stood out to us clearly: there's a real training gap across the profession.

🔹 41% of the workforce hold no formal Expert Witness qualifications
🔹 Only 49% have completed core training in Law for Experts, Report Writing, and Expert Discussions/Joint Statements
🔹 11% have undertaken no training at all in the key competencies required of an expert witness

Given that over half of experts have been doing this work for 15+ years, this isn't a story about inexperience, it's a story about formal training simply not keeping pace with practice. And in a role where credibility, precision, and procedural compliance can make or break a case, that gap matters.

This is exactly why EWI's Core Training programme exists, covering the fundamentals every expert witness needs: your duty to the court, court procedure and terminology, report writing that holds up to scrutiny, and how to navigate expert discussions and joint statements with confidence.

Our next round of Core Training starts 6th October, and every session is recorded, so you won't miss out if you can't attend every date live.

📖 Read the full workforce report: ewi.org.uk/workforce
🎓 Find out more about Core Training: https://www.ewi.org.uk/coretraining

A UK first: mapping the Expert Witness workforceThis year, EWI set out to answer a question nobody had ever properly mea...
21/09/2026

A UK first: mapping the Expert Witness workforce

This year, EWI set out to answer a question nobody had ever properly measured: how big is the Expert Witness workforce in the UK, and who makes it up?

Working with White Space Strategy, and combining national datasets with primary research, we've produced the first-ever assessment of its kind, a robust model estimating 31,000 people undertaking expert witness work in the UK, made up of 7,500 regular and 23,500 infrequent experts.

Some of what we found:

🔹 Specialist Medical Practitioners are the largest group (40%), followed by Construction & Building and Therapy professionals
🔹 Over half of experts have been doing this work for 15+ years
🔹 The average expert undertakes 60 cases a year., though 30% complete 100 or more
🔹 77% charge between £100–£400 per hour
🔹 41% hold no formal Expert Witness qualifications, and only 49% have completed core training in Law for Experts, Report Writing, and Expert Discussions/Joint Statements
🔹 62% undertake Single Joint Expert work, but only half of those have been trained specifically for that role
🔹 Just 24% of the workforce is female, though the picture looks more balanced in the 35–44 age group, a promising sign for the future
🔹 86% of the workforce is from a White background, and 6% identify as having a disability, areas we want to understand better in future research

This data will be invaluable as we shape our policy, advocacy, and lobbying work, and as we deliver our 2026–2030 strategy. We intend to repeat this exercise in a few years to track how the workforce changes over time.

📖 Read and dowload the full report: https://www.ewi.org.uk/News/ewi-releases-workforce-mapping-research-report

We are all set up and ready to welcome delegates for our Scottish Medicolegal Conference at the Grand Central Hotel in G...
18/09/2026

We are all set up and ready to welcome delegates for our Scottish Medicolegal Conference at the Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow. Looking forward to a packed agenda, starting at 9:30 with Lord Arthurson.

We have a fantastic opportunity for someone to come and work with us shaping and delivering live events and creating eng...
16/09/2026

We have a fantastic opportunity for someone to come and work with us shaping and delivering live events and creating engaging learning content on our new moodle-based learning hub. For more information please see www.ewi.org.uk/jobs

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