Testifying Expert
Definition
An expert whose opinion will be disclosed to the opposing party and presented in proceedings, as opposed to a consulting expert whose advice stays privileged and advisory.
- Role
- Opinion disclosed and presented in proceedings
- Contrast
- Consulting expert stays privileged and advisory
- Disclosure
- Report and opinion shared with opposing party
- Field
- Expert witness practice
Common questions
Can a consulting expert later become a testifying expert?+
Yes, if a party chooses to call them, but doing so generally waives the privilege that protected their earlier advisory work, so the switch is a strategic decision made carefully by legal counsel.
Why does the distinction matter for privilege?+
A consulting expert's preliminary opinions, drafts and communications typically remain protected from disclosure, while a testifying expert's opinions and the materials relied on to form them are generally discoverable by the opposing side.
Related terms
- Conflict of Interest
- A situation in which a person's private interests, financial, personal, or professional, could improperly affect their exercise of a duty to an...
- Duty to the Court
- The obligation of expert witnesses in UK proceedings (and, to varying degrees, in other jurisdictions) to assist the court with objective, unbiased...
- Expert Witness
- A person whose specialised knowledge is accepted by a court and who gives opinion evidence, not just factual evidence. Forensic auditors frequently...
- Hot-Tubbing
- Concurrent evidence procedure in which opposing experts give evidence together, often debating their technical disagreements in front of the tribunal. Used to...
- Single Joint Expert (SJE)
- An expert appointed by a court or agreed by both parties to provide a single neutral opinion rather than one expert per...