I need a court-appointed expert for construction defects.
The term court-appointed expert is normally used incorrectly , confusing it both with the professional who is an expert in a subject ( expert architect , medical expert, handwriting expert, etc.) and who acts in proceedings hired by clients, and with the expert appointed by the court. This is because the term “court-appointed expert” is popularly associated with an expert who has to act in court, in a legal claim. But that is not the case. There are two kinds of experts: court-appointed experts and party-appointed experts.
Who can be an expert?
Any expert or professional with scientific, artistic, technical or practical knowledge of the matter in dispute that can enlighten the judge is what is known as an expert, and must submit their expert report in compliance with a series of legal requirements.
The difference between a court-appointed expert and a party-appointed expert.
- Party-appointed experts are the experts put forward by one of the parties, either the claimant or the defendant. These experts – and their expert report – must be submitted with either the statement of claim or the defence. Although these experts – fully qualified architects in the case of construction defect claims – must swear or promise that they have acted as objectively as possible, it is taken for granted that they will not harm the client who hired them, although this does not mean that the judge disregards their views, since they are there to enlighten the judge on matters outside the judge’s knowledge.
- On the other hand, the court-appointed expert is a professional registered on the court’s list of experts who is appointed by lot to act in particular proceedings. They are not civil servants but self-employed professionals – with the same qualifications as the others – who have been appointed by drawing lots, and should therefore be presumed impartial (although we know that everyone, like anybody else, has their own likes and dislikes).
A court-appointed expert can be requested either by the parties or by the judge. If one of the parties requests it, the court-appointed expert usually asks for an advance on fees that is far from modest before accepting the assignment – and be careful, this does not mean they will side with whoever pays that advance.
The best approach, and what we recommend, is ALWAYS to bring a legal claim with a good party-appointed expert – an expert architect specialising in construction defects whose expert report is rigorous, complete and convincing – and only in some cases consider requesting a court-appointed expert report, and then only to complement and confirm what the party-appointed expert has said.
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