Retaining Party
Definition
The lawyer, insurer, or client who engages a forensic engineer for a specific matter. The engineer owes accurate and objective opinions (not advocacy) regardless of who pays the fee. Disciplinary codes treat paid advocacy as a serious ethical violation.
- Field
- Forensic engineering practice
- Who
- Lawyer, insurer, or client who engages the expert
- Expert's duty
- Objective opinion, not advocacy for the payer
- Violation risk
- Paid advocacy breaches disciplinary codes
Common questions
Does the retaining party control what the expert concludes?+
No, professional and disciplinary codes require the expert's opinion to follow the evidence and engineering analysis independent of which party is paying, and courts can exclude or discount testimony shown to be result-driven advocacy.
Can the retaining party withhold an unfavourable report from the court?+
Discovery rules in most jurisdictions require disclosure of retained experts' reports and opinions once the expert is designated to testify, so an unfavourable finding generally cannot simply be suppressed once formal proceedings begin.
What distinguishes a retaining party from a testifying expert's client for confidentiality purposes?+
The retaining party holds attorney-client or work-product privilege over early consulting communications, but once the expert is designated to testify, much of that communication and the underlying data typically becomes discoverable.
Related terms
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- Forensic Engineering
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- NAFE
- The National Academy of Forensic Engineers, a US organisation whose membership is restricted to licensed professional engineers with substantial forensic casework experience....
- Professional Engineer (PE / CEng)
- A licensed engineering credential required in many jurisdictions to offer opinions on engineering matters in court. In the US, state licensure as...
- Spoilation
- The destruction, loss, or alteration of evidence in litigation, whether intentional or negligent. Courts may impose sanctions including adverse inference instructions when...