By Yvonne Spijkerman, Co-Founder of Circle Case Management and Expert Witness Service Lead
Expert evidence should do more than fill a gap in a case. It should bring clarity to complexity. It should help the Court understand the real-world consequences of injury, disability or care needs. And, importantly, it should stand up to scrutiny.
After more than a decade working with solicitors, clients and clinicians, I have seen just how much difference the right expert can make — not because they tell one party what they want to hear, but because they provide clear, independent and clinically robust evidence that helps everyone understand the case properly. That is the standard we have built Circle Case Management’s Expert Witness service around.
And as CircleCM celebrates 10 years of excellence, it remains at the centre of everything we do.
Expert evidence is about much more than writing a report
When people think about Expert Witness work, the report is often the first thing that comes to mind.
But a strong report is the product of everything that happens before it. The right expert has to be identified. The instruction needs to be understood. The relevant records need to be reviewed. The client must be assessed properly. Clinical findings need to be analysed against the questions being asked. Future needs need to be considered carefully.
And then all of that information has to be translated into evidence that is structured, proportionate, clear and useful to the Court. That is why Expert Witness work requires more than clinical experience alone. An excellent clinician is not automatically an excellent Expert Witness.
The expert must also understand their role within litigation, the boundaries of their expertise and, above all, their overriding duty to the Court.
Independence is the foundation
One of the most important principles of Expert Witness work is independence.
An expert is not an advocate for the claimant, defendant, solicitor or insurer who instructs them. Their duty is to provide an objective opinion within their area of expertise. That means the evidence must be balanced. If something is supported by the clinical evidence, the expert should say so. If it is not, they must say that too.
If a client’s needs have reduced, that should be reflected. If needs are greater than initially anticipated, the evidence should explain why. And where there is uncertainty, an expert should be comfortable identifying it rather than forcing a conclusion that the evidence does not support.
That independence is not a weakness in a report. It is what gives the report credibility.
The strongest expert evidence is not evidence that says the most. It is evidence that can explain and justify every opinion it reaches.
Choosing the right expert matters
One of the earliest decisions in the process can also be one of the most important:
Who should be instructed?
Job title alone is rarely enough.
Two occupational therapists, nurses or vocational experts may have very different areas of clinical experience. One may specialise in catastrophic neurological injury. Another may have particular expertise in paediatrics, orthopaedics, mental health, long-term disability or complex care.
The individual expert’s experience needs to fit the issues within the case. That sounds obvious, but the consequences of getting it wrong can be significant.
An expert working outside their true area of expertise may struggle to answer the questions being asked, require additional professional input or produce evidence that is more vulnerable to challenge.
At Circle, this is why we have always taken a hand-selected approach to our Expert Witness panel.
We are not interested in building the biggest list of names. We are interested in having the right experts. Clinicians are selected for their professional expertise, real-world experience, ability to communicate complex information clearly and understanding of the responsibilities that come with Expert Witness work. Because when a solicitor instructs Circle, the quality of the expert reflects directly on the quality of our service.
What makes evidence genuinely useful?
A technically correct report can still be difficult to use. Good expert evidence should make complicated clinical issues understandable without oversimplifying them. It needs to answer the questions within the instruction. It needs to explain how conclusions have been reached. It needs to distinguish between what has been observed, what has been reported and what is the expert’s professional opinion.
And recommendations need to be defensible. If an expert recommends care, therapy, equipment, accommodation, vocational support or another intervention, there should be a clear clinical rationale behind it.
The Court should not have to search through pages of information to understand the expert’s position.
Clarity is part of expertise.
The best experts can take years of clinical knowledge and turn it into evidence that a non-clinician can understand and use.
The instruction is a two-way process
There is also a great deal that instructing parties can do to help the Expert Witness process run smoothly. A clear Letter of Instruction is invaluable!
What questions need to be answered?
What heads of loss are relevant?
Are there particular areas of dispute?
What documentation is available?
Are there other experts already involved whose evidence may be relevant?
Are there practical issues affecting the assessment?
The clearer the instruction, the more focused the expert can be. But it should also be a conversation. There are occasions when an expert may identify that an instruction sits outside their remit, that another discipline should be considered or that additional information is necessary before a reliable opinion can be provided. That dialogue between solicitor and expert can prevent delay, duplication and avoidable difficulty later in the case. It is one of the reasons we place so much importance on responsiveness and accessibility within our Expert Witness service.
Clinical expertise must remain current
Expert Witness work is not something that sits separately from clinical practice. In my view, one of the great strengths of our panel is that our experts understand what care, rehabilitation and support look like in the real world. They understand the practicalities. What is realistically available?
How long does something take? What level of professional input is actually required? What equipment is appropriate? What does a recommendation mean for the client and family day to day? What support might be required to make it sustainable? That real-world clinical understanding is vital when considering current and future needs. A recommendation should not simply sound appropriate on paper. It needs to make sense in practice.
The human being behind the evidence
Expert reports inevitably involve facts, evidence, costs, recommendations and professional opinion. But behind every report is a person. Someone whose life may have changed dramatically. Someone who may be trying to understand a future very different from the one they expected. An expert has to remain objective, but objectivity does not require the removal of humanity. Clients need to feel heard. Families may need complex processes explained. Assessments may need to accommodate fatigue, cognitive difficulties, communication needs, pain or emotional distress.
A good assessment should gather the information required without losing sight of the person at the centre of the case. That balance between clinical rigour and person-centred practice is something I care deeply about.
Evidence that can withstand challenge
A strong Expert Witness report should not only read well when everyone agrees with it. It needs to remain robust when challenged. That requires careful reasoning. Experts should be able to explain why a recommendation has been made, what evidence supports it and what alternatives were considered. They should understand the limits of their own expertise and recognise when another professional opinion is required. They should be prepared to review new evidence and, where appropriate, revise their opinion. Changing an opinion because the evidence has changed does not undermine an expert. Refusing to change an opinion when the evidence no longer supports it does. The goal is not to defend the report at all costs. The goal is to defend the evidence.
Excellence starts behind the scenes
Much of what determines the quality of an Expert Witness service happens away from the assessment itself.
How quickly is the enquiry responded to?
Has the right expert been identified?
Are timescales realistic?
Are conflicts checked?
Is communication clear?
Are reports quality assured?
Are deadlines monitored?
Can the solicitor reach someone when they need support?
For a busy litigation team, service quality matters alongside clinical quality. That is why, as Expert Witness Service Lead, I see our role as much broader than introducing a solicitor to an expert. We are responsible for creating a service around that expert which is dependable, responsive and consistent. The clinician provides the independent opinion. Our responsibility is to make sure the process around that opinion reflects the same standard of excellence.
Building a national Expert Witness service
Over the last ten years, Circle Case Management has grown significantly, but we have been careful not to lose the values on which the organisation was built.
We remain selective.
We know our experts.
We understand their clinical strengths.
And we work hard to match the right professional to the right instruction.
Today, our Expert Witness service supports instructions across the UK, with expertise spanning a range of clinical and rehabilitation disciplines. Our continued expansion into Northern Ireland is an important part of that growth. Developing our Northern Ireland panel means legal teams can access specialist experts with an understanding of the local context, while benefiting from the same clinical standards, governance and service approach that underpin Circle’s work elsewhere in the UK.
For me, expansion should never simply be about geographical coverage, it should be about extending access to quality.
Ten years of excellence
As one of Circle Case Management’s co-founders, it is particularly meaningful to be marking our tenth anniversary. When we began, our focus was simple: provide clinically excellent services while remaining personal, responsive and genuinely invested in the people we work with.
Ten years later, the organisation is larger, our reach is wider and the range of expertise within CircleCM has grown enormously.
But that principle has not changed.
I was incredibly proud recently to receive the Occupational Therapy Excellence Award for Expert Witness Service Provider, and to be Highly Commended for Female Employer of the Year at the Devon Women in Business Awards.
Individual recognition is lovely, but for me these awards also reflect the standards that sit behind the wider CircleCM team. The Expert Witness service is only as strong as the clinicians within it.
I am proud of the expertise, professionalism and integrity of the experts we have brought together — and of the fact that they have been deliberately selected rather than simply added to a directory.
The difference the right evidence makes
Expert evidence can influence decisions that have a profound impact on someone’s future.
Care.
Therapy.
Accommodation.
Equipment.
Education.
Employment.
Support.
Independence.
Future financial provision.
Those opinions carry responsibility.
That is why the right expert matters.
The right expert can identify needs that might otherwise be overlooked.
They can explain complex clinical issues clearly.
They can distinguish between what is desirable and what is genuinely necessary.
They can provide realistic recommendations grounded in clinical practice.
And they can give the Court evidence it can understand and rely upon.
That is what I mean by difference-making evidence. Not louder evidence - Not more expensive evidence - Not evidence designed to support a particular side.
Clear, independent, clinically robust evidence that genuinely helps the Court understand the person, their needs and their future.
That is the standard every Expert Witness should be working towards. And after ten years, it remains the standard we expect at CircleCM.
To discuss your expert witness requirements please email expert@circlecm.com or call 0129724145
Free Specialist Training: The Role of an Expert – Difference-Making Evidence
As part of Circle Case Management’s free specialist training programme, we are offering a 45-minute session for legal and insurance teams exploring the role of the Expert Witness and what makes expert evidence genuinely valuable.
The session considers the journey from instruction through assessment and report writing, what experts need from instructing parties, how recommendations are developed and the qualities that make evidence clear, robust and useful to the Court.
Training can be delivered online or in your office and tailored to your team’s caseload and learning needs.
To arrange a free training session, please email nicola@circlecm.com.