Expert Witness, Expert Reports, Garden Disputes
In gardening and landscaping discrepancies can arise between what a client was expecting and what the professional has delivered. Unfortunately these can often lead towards litigation, with the associated overheads and timescale. If this has become your situation please read on to see if I can help you.
Normally I am instructed by either the client, or by the landscaper or garden designer. If the parties are still negotiating then I encourage you to firstly consider a Witness Statement of Opinion report, produced as a joint instruction, with all parties accepting the findings in the report, and each one paying an equal share of the cost of production of that report. This will keep costs to a minimum and can facilitate dispute resolution, whilst still establishing an independent assessment of the issue which can be relied on if the matter continues to Court.
For clients and their Solicitors, the rationale behind commissioning a Witness Statement of Opinion is that an independent assessment of the works can clarify the material points of contention, provide an evaluation of the quality and quantity of the works, and their compliance with recognised standards. Of course a report that is commissioned and agreed by both parties will liberate the client to subsequently repair their garden without prejudicing any future claim since there is an independent assessment of the site available for the Court to rely on. It is helpful if the report is sought as soon as possible, ideally before conditions on site become too altered - either deliberately by others attempting to fix the issues or just through normal plant growth and the passage of time.
If the matter has progressed beyond agreement between the parties then I take instruction from the contacting party or from their solicitors. Typically this will be to produce a Witness Statement of Opinion either in standard or in CPR Part 35 format. Alternatively I may be instructed by Court to produce under CPR Part 35 an Expert Witness Report or a Single Joint Expert's Report. Irrespective of the source of my instruction I work as a wholly independent assessor reporting on the issue as I find it on the day of my visit.
Following contact I will briefly ascertain the route by which contact was made, ask for a broad outline of the history and status of the disputed works, and the nature of the report required. I will then provide a Modus Operandi and a Quotation which must be accepted and paid in advance of any work to ensure that there can be no question of any conditional fee arrangement. Following instruction I will require copies of all documentation and correspondence - plans, emails, photographs &c - I will then arrange to visit the site completely independently and produce a report detailing what I find extant at the time of my visit. If the investigation is likely to require additional expert analysis - for example soil testing, hydrological reports, or unusual disease or disorder identification then I will, as far as reasonably possible, inform you of this in advance, along with an estimate of the associated costs.
I am based in London and work nationally across the UK.
If you require a garden report please contact me here with a brief outline of the issue and I will get back to you promptly.
In gardening and landscaping discrepancies can arise between what a client was expecting and what the professional has delivered. Unfortunately these can often lead towards litigation, with the associated overheads and timescale. If this has become your situation please read on to see if I can help you.
Normally I am instructed by either the client, or by the landscaper or garden designer. If the parties are still negotiating then I encourage you to firstly consider a Witness Statement of Opinion report, produced as a joint instruction, with all parties accepting the findings in the report, and each one paying an equal share of the cost of production of that report. This will keep costs to a minimum and can facilitate dispute resolution, whilst still establishing an independent assessment of the issue which can be relied on if the matter continues to Court.
For clients and their Solicitors, the rationale behind commissioning a Witness Statement of Opinion is that an independent assessment of the works can clarify the material points of contention, provide an evaluation of the quality and quantity of the works, and their compliance with recognised standards. Of course a report that is commissioned and agreed by both parties will liberate the client to subsequently repair their garden without prejudicing any future claim since there is an independent assessment of the site available for the Court to rely on. It is helpful if the report is sought as soon as possible, ideally before conditions on site become too altered - either deliberately by others attempting to fix the issues or just through normal plant growth and the passage of time.
If the matter has progressed beyond agreement between the parties then I take instruction from the contacting party or from their solicitors. Typically this will be to produce a Witness Statement of Opinion either in standard or in CPR Part 35 format. Alternatively I may be instructed by Court to produce under CPR Part 35 an Expert Witness Report or a Single Joint Expert's Report. Irrespective of the source of my instruction I work as a wholly independent assessor reporting on the issue as I find it on the day of my visit.
Following contact I will briefly ascertain the route by which contact was made, ask for a broad outline of the history and status of the disputed works, and the nature of the report required. I will then provide a Modus Operandi and a Quotation which must be accepted and paid in advance of any work to ensure that there can be no question of any conditional fee arrangement. Following instruction I will require copies of all documentation and correspondence - plans, emails, photographs &c - I will then arrange to visit the site completely independently and produce a report detailing what I find extant at the time of my visit. If the investigation is likely to require additional expert analysis - for example soil testing, hydrological reports, or unusual disease or disorder identification then I will, as far as reasonably possible, inform you of this in advance, along with an estimate of the associated costs.
I am based in London and work nationally across the UK.
If you require a garden report please contact me here with a brief outline of the issue and I will get back to you promptly.
