The Supreme Court is set to rule upon whether an expert witness
retains immunity from suit in relation to evidence given in civil
proceedings. In Jones v Kaney a certificate for leave to appeal
direct to the Supreme Court on this point has been granted,
effectively leap-frogging the Court of Appeal.
A consultant clinical psychologist was retained to act as an
expert witness for the claimant in a personal injuries claim.
Following a telephone discussion between the experts in the case,
the claimant's expert signed a joint statement prepared by the
opposing expert, without making any comment or amendment. She later
said that the joint statement did not reflect what she had agreed
in the telephone discussion but that she had felt 'under
pressure' to sign it. As a result of the damaging nature of
admissions in the joint statement, the claim was settled for a sum
that was considerably less than would have been the case if the
claimant's expert had not signed the joint
