Hot-Tubbing (Concurrent Evidence)
Definition
A procedure, originating in Australia and adopted in some UK and international arbitration proceedings, in which experts from both sides are questioned together in the same session. The procedure can expose genuine disagreements and narrow contested issues more efficiently than sequential examination.
- Origin
- Australia
- Adoption
- Some UK courts and international arbitration proceedings
- Method
- Experts from both sides questioned together in one session
- Application area
- Expert witness testimony in fraud cases
Common questions
Why is hot-tubbing particularly relevant to fraud expert testimony?+
Fraud cases often turn on competing quantifications, such as loss calculations or tracing of funds, where the underlying methodology can differ between experts, and concurrent questioning lets the tribunal probe those methodological differences directly rather than relying on each side's characterisation of the other's report.
Is hot-tubbing available in ordinary domestic civil litigation?+
Availability depends on the jurisdiction and the court's procedural rules or the arbitration agreement, and even where permitted it is typically at the discretion of the judge or tribunal rather than a right either party can demand.
What is the main criticism of hot-tubbing in fraud cases?+
Critics note it can disadvantage a less articulate or less experienced expert regardless of the underlying merit of their analysis, since the format rewards confident real-time debate as much as the quality of the underlying financial work.
Related terms
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- Expert Report
- A written document prepared by the expert before trial or hearing, setting out their qualifications, the materials reviewed, the methodology applied, and...
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- Part 35 (CPR)
- Part 35 of the UK Civil Procedure Rules governs expert evidence in civil proceedings in England and Wales. It imposes a codified...
- Single Joint Expert
- An expert appointed jointly by the parties and the court, rather than by one side. Common in lower-value UK civil claims under...