Defendants & insurers
Instructions from defendants and insurers
I accept instructions from defendant solicitors, NHS Resolution panel firms, medical defence organisations and insurers, and I am actively seeking to increase the proportion of my practice that comes from them.
Independence
Why I say that openly
An expert whose instructions come predominantly from one side is a less useful expert, whichever side that is. The value of my opinion to you depends on it being the same opinion regardless of who asked for it, and the most direct evidence of that is a practice instructed by both.
My current balance is weighted towards claimant instructions. I would rather tell you that here than have it emerge in cross-examination.
I would rather change that balance than defend it — which is why this page, and this invitation, exist.
Every additional defendant instruction improves the value of my claimant evidence too, because the balance itself becomes an answer rather than a vulnerability.
What you get
What defendant instructions get from me
An early view on defensibility. The same fifteen-minute merits call I offer claimant firms, directed at the opposite question: whether the care described is defensible, where the weak points are, and what the claimant’s expert is likely to say. Knowing that in week one changes the whole handling of a claim.
A realistic assessment of causation. A very large proportion of thoracic claims involve a breach that made no difference, or made less difference than pleaded. Establishing the counterfactual properly — what the outcome would actually have been with correct management — is frequently where the defence is won, and it is a surgical question.
Analysis of the claimant’s expert evidence. Where a claimant’s report has been served, I can identify what it assumes, what it does not address, and what Part 35 questions are worth asking.
Condition and prognosis review. In personal injury, an assessment of whether continuing symptoms are attributable to the injury, whether the prognosis given is realistic, and whether treatment is available that would reduce the schedule.
Independence, in practice
What I will not do
I will not tell you the care was reasonable because you are the party paying. If the care fell below the standard, my report will say so, and you will know that on the merits call rather than after you have paid for the report.
What solicitors on both sides tell me is the most useful thing I do
Working together
Panel and framework arrangements
I am happy to discuss inclusion on panel or framework arrangements, including agreed rate cards and service levels.
Contact for panel enquiries
info@thoracicsurgeryexpertwitness.co.uk
Not currently on the NHS Resolution panel firm expert list.
Fees
The same rates, whoever instructs me
The same rates apply regardless of which party instructs me — see fees and terms.
Fees do not vary with the outcome of the claim, from any party.
Defendants & insurers
Discuss a case
Fifteen minutes, no charge. If it is not my field, I will tell you who to try instead.