Party-Retained Expert
Definition
A forensic psychologist instructed by one party to litigation to provide an expert opinion; subject to the overriding duty to the court but potentially subject to party-loyalty pressures.
- Instructed by
- One party to litigation
- Field
- Forensic psychology
- Overriding duty
- Owed to the court
- Risk
- Party-loyalty pressure
Common questions
How does a party-retained expert differ from a court-appointed expert?+
A party-retained expert is selected and paid by one side, while a court-appointed or single joint expert is instructed jointly or by the court itself, reducing the perception of allegiance to either side.
What safeguards exist against bias in a party-retained expert's opinion?+
Professional codes and court rules require the expert to declare their overriding duty to the court, disclose the basis and limits of their opinion, and remain open to cross-examination by the opposing side.
Related terms
- BSA 2023 Section 39
- The expert-evidence provision of India's Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023, successor to Indian Evidence Act Section 45. Governs the admissibility of expert opinion...
- Contemporaneous Documentation
- The requirement to record assessment observations, raw data, collateral information reviewed, and the reasoning for forensic opinions at the time they are...
- Court-Appointed Expert
- A neutral forensic expert appointed by the court independently of the parties; the default model in French and German civil law systems...
- CPR Part 35
- The Civil Procedure Rules section governing expert evidence in England and Wales. It establishes the expert's overriding duty to the court, the...
- Dual-Role Conflict
- The professional conflict arising when a forensic psychologist simultaneously holds a therapeutic and an evaluative relationship with the same individual; addressed under...
- Expert Witness Duty to Court
- The overriding obligation of an expert witness in common law proceedings to assist the court impartially, superseding any duty to the retaining...
- Federal Rules of Evidence Rule 702
- The US federal rule governing expert testimony, requiring that the opinion be based on sufficient facts, reliable principles, and a reliable application...
- Insanity Defense Reform Act 1984
- US federal legislation passed after the Hinckley acquittal that restricted expert psychiatric and psychological testimony in insanity proceedings by prohibiting direct ultimate-issue...
- R V. Mohan 1994
- Canadian Supreme Court decision establishing a four-factor admissibility test for expert evidence: relevance, necessity, absence of an exclusionary rule, and a properly...
- Ultimate-Issue Rule
- The traditional prohibition on an expert stating an opinion on the very factual question the court must decide, on the ground that...