Expert reports · investigations and evidence
A report prepared by an expert is not your position in a case with additional support. The civil rules provide that the expert has an overriding duty to the court, as opposed to the party who instructs or pays them, and therefore any report drafted any other way will be of no value when it gets challenged. All reports generated by this laboratory begin with that premise.
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| Format | Setting | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Technical findings report | Decisions made internally; internal Human Resources (HR) processes; first advice provided | In plain English: what we determined, how we did this, and our conclusion(s) |
| Insurance & loss report | Claims: what caused them, how extensive they are (extent) and who is liable for them (liability) | Our findings along with a causation analysis, presented with exhibits |
| CPR Part 35 report | Civil litigation within England & Wales | The duty to the court is stated; your instructions are summarised; the method is provided in full; truth and compliance declarations are signed |
| CrimPR Part 19 report | Criminal proceedings | Built for the criminal rules, the contents of Part 35: reliability material, qualifications, credibility disclosure |
| Single joint expert | Both sides are directed by the court to share one expert witness | One report serving both parties equally, with the court above them |
When you instruct us on a new matter, we will first hold a confidential conversation about what has occurred, which devices/accounts matter and what the evidence needs to establish. Following this, you will receive a single written quote, fixed prior to any examination commencing, and the initial scope of works does not incur any cost.
Instructions received by us are recorded. The report itself also summarises those instructions. All things which may affect credibility (including that we are an independent laboratory with no accreditation) shall be stated prior to commencing any analysis; not after.
Each step of analysis shall be performed and documented as though the other side's expert was already reviewing our work, because at some point they will. Findings are not influenced by the party providing instruction.
The report follows CPR Part 35 or CrimPR Part 19, depending upon which is required by the nature of the case: method of testing, exhibits submitted for testing, the custody chain of exhibits, statements of truth and compliance; plain English conclusions are reported first, then the technical appendices.
You get everything: the report, all of the exhibits and the files behind each exhibit, as well as the hashes, the continuity record and our working notes. If at some time in the future a tribunal or another expert wishes to verify anything, they will be able to follow the entire chain of evidence from start to finish.
Check this one thing before hiring any expert: since April 2019, the criminal practice directions require disclosure of all information that could undermine the reliability of the expert. Missing accreditation is specifically included in this. If the expert withholds that information, they may damage your case. We put ours on page one.
We had two firms involved. We had one missing folder. We had two very different versions of what happened. The image did not support either version outright, and the timeline made that as clear as day. Settlement occurred within a month after service of the report.
The findings report will describe what was found and how it was done. The report which goes to court has a greater standing than the findings report; it sets out the overriding duty of the expert to the court, contains statements of truth and compliance declarations, includes an overview of the instructions, provides all details about the methodology in full and the custody chain, and makes disclosure of any material which may have bearing on credibility, at the commencement.
Ultimately, the formal obligations of an expert to the court take precedence over their obligations to the person who has instructed them or paid them. It is this that provides weight and substance to a compliant report.
We will. When the court decides there should just be a single joint expert, then each side gets the same version of our report, and that tends to focus their minds.
It has to be disclosed, so we do disclose it, and then the court compares it with the method, and the method is what makes a report. Overclaiming is how experts lose credibility; we claim only what we can show.
When recorders overwrite on a loop, all recorded evidence will weaken and time limitations expire, so open your case now. The first review is completely free and confidential.