An expert witness's paramount duty is to the court or tribunal, not to whichever party is paying the fee. That's the principle behind Schedule 7 of the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (NSW), and it's not just a formality, an undisclosed conflict of interest is the kind of problem that gets caught late and costs far more than a bad quote ever would.
What We Actually Check Before Accepting Instructions
Before taking on a matter that's in dispute, we ask two things upfront, every time:
- Is another engineer already engaged on this matter? If so, on which side, and in what capacity.
- Who is the opposing party? This is checked against any prior engagement to rule out a conflict before site inspection, not after.
This isn't a box-ticking exercise. It's how an undisclosed conflict gets caught before it becomes a problem for your client's case, rather than something opposing counsel raises later.
What Independence Looks Like in the Finding
We're engaged by insurers, builders, homeowners, and law firms on both sides of disputes, and the finding is the finding regardless of who instructed us. If damage is consistent with the claimed cause, the report says so. If it's pre-existing, unrelated, or the opposing party's position is actually the better-supported one, the report says that instead. A report that only ever supports the instructing party isn't independent evidence, it's advocacy, and it won't hold up to scrutiny the way genuine expert evidence needs to.
Getting in Touch
If your matter is contested or tribunal-bound, let us know that upfront, along with the two points above, so the engagement is scoped correctly from the outset rather than retrofitted once the report's already underway.
