Penny Wise, Pound Foolish – "The 7 Deadly Sins Of Expert Evidence"

Often times, experts are retained as a reporting deadline looms. It seems that this behavior is driven, at least in part, by a desire to defer litigation costs in the hope that the matter settles before trial.

Back in the day this practice kept things interesting because the reporting deadline, in Ontario, was ten days before trial. The courts have recognized that change was needed and the Rules of Civil Procedure concerning the delivery of expert reports have since been amended. The reporting deadline was first moved back to 90 days before the trial, and most recently has been moved back to 90 days before pre-trial.

There is nothing like a deadline to focus attention on the needs of an assignment. But earlier retention of experts is often preferable because deferring this assistance until deadlines are looming can result in hidden costs, including: