How to convince a judge with an expert report.
In construction defect claim proceedings, where each party (if not all, then almost all) will submit an expert report – if the architect and the quantity surveyor are sued, each of them will certainly provide another expert report prepared by an expert appointed by their insurance companies – it is vital that the expert report you submit stands out from the rest, so that the judge gives more weight to the expert put forward by the homeowners’ association and upholds the claim.
What is the best expert report?
As case law states, expert evidence must be freely assessed by the judge. In the end, the judge – giving proper reasons for the choice – will accept the expert report that basically convinces them most.
To that end, the judge considers the most rigorous report, the most objective, the most complete, the one that provides the strongest scientific reasoning, whose author has carried out tests and exploratory openings and relied on factual data. And, on the other hand, the expert who must confirm and defend the report in court should be the most convincing, clarifying and defending the points of the report convincingly when questioned by opposing counsel and, if necessary, by the judge.
With a good expert report you are more likely to win the case.
That is why – as in a recent judgment concerning a homeowners’ association in the city of Granada, in which the judge endorsed the rigour of our expert evidence over the other expert reports and in which, in the end, thanks to this expert report prepared by DPcon, the claim was upheld in full, ordering the defendants to pay the amount estimated by our expert – we consider experience and specialisation in this field essential to producing a convincing expert report and ensuring the claim succeeds.
If you would like to discuss your case with us with no obligation, contact us.
Any questions?