{"id":8680,"date":"2020-09-24T13:24:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T16:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/?p=8680"},"modified":"2021-12-30T12:13:04","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T16:13:04","slug":"update-principles-governing-the-cost-control-of-dispute-resolution-and-claim-settlement-involving-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2020\/09\/24\/update-principles-governing-the-cost-control-of-dispute-resolution-and-claim-settlement-involving-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Update: Principles governing the cost control of dispute resolution and claim settlement involving experts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I updated the Principles<\/em> after being contacted by a Toronto firm about a slip and fall accident. The question came up about being retained on contingency. The contact said they do this when the injured party may have a claim but no money to pursue their rights. He also thought the claim would settle within a year. I told him I couldn’t do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chap was pleasant but I thought later, after he remarked he was acting for a partner in the firm, that he may have been a more junior member of the firm and just didn’t know: Experts don’t take cases on contingency, and slip and fall cases typically take more than a year to settle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common law requires that experts: (Ref. 1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Be independent from the parties that retain them<\/em><\/li>
  2. Provide objective, unbiased opinion evidence in relation only to matters within their expertise, and,<\/li>
  3. Avoid assuming the role of advocate for the parties that retain them<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    These requirements are the same in all issues involving dispute resolution and claim settlement. The great majority of experts know that they serve the process, as found in a pilot study of 152 Canadian experts, not the party who retained them. (Ref. 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The requirements also mean that an expert must engage on a fee basis not on a contingency basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    But, to be absolutely sure that there wasn’t another school of thought out there on experts and contingency I contacted the head of another Toronto law firm. I haven’t been answered – slammed<\/em> would be more correct – as quickly as in this case: “Absolutely not!”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    After all this, I thought, I better update the Principles <\/em>to be sure it’s clear when managing cost that experts are not retained on a contingency basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    You can read the updated Principles at http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/2019\/07\/30\/principles-governing-the-cost-control-of-dispute-resolution-and-claim-settlement-involving-experts\/ as originally posted on July 30, 2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    References<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Stockwood, Q.C., David, Civil Litigation, A Practical Handbook<\/em>, 5th ed, 2004, Thompson Carswell<\/li>
    2. Corbin, Ruth M., Chair, Corbin Partners Inc. and Adjunct Professor, Osgoode Hall School, Toronto, Breaking the Expert Evidence Logjam: Experts Weigh In<\/em>, presented at Expert Witness Forum East, Toronto, February, 2018<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Appendix<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Jorden, Eric E., Consulting professional engineer; forensic engineer, Geotechnology Ltd., Halifax, Principles Governing the Cost Control of Dispute Resolution and Claim Settlement Involving Experts<\/em>, presented at the Expert Witness Forum East, Toronto, February, 2018 <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        (Posted by Eric E. Jorden, M.Sc., P.Eng. Consulting Professional Engineer, Forensic Engineer, Geotechnology Ltd., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada September 23, 2020.\u00a0ejorden@eastlink.ca<\/span><\/strong>)\u00a0 \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

        <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I updated the Principles after being contacted by a Toronto firm about a slip and fall accident. The question came up about being retained on contingency. The contact said they do this when the injured party may have a claim … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8680"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8680"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9790,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8680\/revisions\/9790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ericjorden.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}