Answers to the questions instructing solicitors ask most often. If yours is not here, call and I will answer it directly.
Frequently asked questions
Call or email to tell me about the case. Once you are ready to instruct, send the letter of instruction and the records, and I will confirm the fee and a delivery date in writing before any work begins. The full process is set out on the how to instruct page.
Yes. Tell me about the case before anything is committed to paper and I can usually establish whether the issues fall within thoracic surgery, whether the clinical questions are ones on which I can properly assist, and whether an expert report is likely to be the right evidence at this stage. That conversation is free of charge.
Yes. I act for claimants, defendants, insurers and as a single joint expert, and my overriding duty is to the court rather than to the party instructing me.
Rates are published on the fees and terms page. You are given a fee in writing before you instruct, and it does not change unless the scope changes and we have discussed it first.
No. Fees are payable regardless of the outcome of the claim, and I do not act on any conditional or contingent basis, in any form.
Drafts are delivered to the timetable agreed in writing at the point of instruction, rather than to a standard figure advertised in advance. A report produced in a hurry is worth less to you than a report produced properly, and the records volume in most clinical negligence instructions makes a fast turnaround unrealistic.
Every report is checked against the published report standard before it is released — covering the letter of instruction, CPR Part 35 compliance, the disclosed records, internal consistency, and plain English for the reader. The checklist governs the form of the report, not the substance of the opinion in it.
No. An examination is arranged only where the report requires one. Where it does, it can take place in London, at a venue near the claimant, by home visit, or remotely where physical examination is not material to the opinion.
Medical records should not be sent by ordinary, unencrypted email attachment. Approved secure methods, together with how records are stored, retained and destroyed, are set out on the data security page.
Phone calls are answered 24/7 by a real person — no voicemail, no automated system. Emails and online enquiries are answered the next working day.
Still have a question?
Fifteen minutes on the telephone, free of charge. I will tell you whether the issues fall within my expertise before anything is committed to paper.
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