CPR Part 35 Expert Witness Assessments in the UK
The other side has served their expert report, and yours now needs to stand up next to it. You need an opinion that answers the questions your case turns on, from someone with no stake in who wins. We prepare the CPR Part 35 expert witness report UK solicitors instruct for that moment. Send us the questions and your deadline, and we will tell you honestly whether we can help. We take instructions across England and Wales.
0330 380 2184
What an Independent Expert Witness Assessment Means in Practice
A report that agrees with everything the instructing party says is the easiest kind for the other side to pull apart. We do not act as advocates for either party. Our job is to give the court an objective opinion, whichever side it helps. The opinion has to stay the expert’s own work, free from all litigation pressure. Practice Direction 35 asks experts to consider every material fact, including the ones that weaken their own opinion. So we ask for every paper in the case, not just the helpful ones.
What Our CPR Part 35 Reports Cover
Our reports give the court an opinion on psychological, psychiatric and cognitive questions in dispute. Some instructions need one or two areas and others need all five. We scope each report to your questions.
Causation and Attribution
The report says whether the incident caused the injury and how much harm it explains.
Psychological and Psychiatric Diagnosis
Clinical interview and records support a diagnosis, or explain in plain terms why none fits.
Impact on Daily Life and Capacity
You see clearly how the condition now affects work, home life, relationships and daily decision-making.
Prognosis and Long-Term Outcomes
Expect a reasoned forecast of how far the person improves and how long symptoms last.
Pre-Existing and Incident-Related Conditions
We separate pre-existing conditions from incident-related harm, and the evidence behind each conclusion stays visible.
What Makes an Expert Report Compliant With Part 35?
Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules, the rulebook civil courts in England and Wales follow, governs expert evidence in claims such as personal injury and clinical negligence.
Rule 35.3 gives the expert an overriding duty to help the court, ahead of any obligation to whoever instructs or pays them. Practice Direction 35, alongside Part 35, sets out what every report must contain. We build ours to those requirements.
The Court as Addressee
We address every report to the court itself, never to the solicitor or the party who instructed us.
Statement of Truth
A statement of truth confirms which facts sit within our own knowledge and which come from other sources.
Declaration of Duty
Every report ends by confirming that we understand our duty to the court and have complied with it.
Range of Opinion and Limits
Where views differ, we summarise the range and give our reasons. Where evidence falls short, we say so.
Instructions on the Record
We set out in the report the substance of every material instruction, written or oral, behind our opinion.
What we do
How the Other Side Can Challenge a Court Expert Witness Assessment
The other side may put written questions to the expert. The rules allow one round, within 28 days of service, to clarify the report only, unless the court or the other party agrees to more. The answers count as part of the report. Rule 35.12 lets the court direct the experts to discuss the case. They identify the issues and try to reach an agreed opinion, and the court may ask for a statement of where they agree, where they do not, and why. The aim is to narrow the issues.
Sometimes the court asks for one expert instead of two. Under rule 35.7, when parties want expert evidence on the same issue, the court can direct that a single joint expert, one expert reporting on behalf of two or more parties, give it. We stay available after delivery, and we answer questions about our findings. Tell us when you instruct if you expect a joint discussion or a single joint expert appointment, and we will say what we can offer.
Who Can Instruct Us for an Expert Witness Report
You can instruct us directly, and the pressure on the report depends on where you sit.
Personal Injury Solicitors
Claims where the other side disputes a psychological injury or its cause.
Clinical Negligence Teams
Defending or bringing a claim that links psychiatric harm to medical treatment.
Insurance Litigation Specialists
Handlers testing liability or the value of a claim against court deadlines.
Other Legal Representatives
Any other solicitor whose civil claim needs psychiatric or psychological evidence.
Case Management Professionals
Coordinators of complex cases where one report must fit the wider evidence.
Why Solicitors Choose Gain Expert Assessments for Expert Witness Reports
One Team, Several Disciplines
Psychiatry, psychology and medico-legal work sit in one team, so one provider can cover the mental health side.
Contested Case Experience
Solicitors regularly bring us complex and contested instructions, so a difficult case is familiar ground for our assessors.
Capacity Questions Covered
If your client's ability to run their own claim comes into question, the same team can assess capacity.
Clear Communication Throughout
You hear from us at each step, from the first call until the finished report reaches your desk.
Over 20 Years in Healthcare
Our team has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare sector behind every report we write.
What Happens After You Send a Referral ?
Case Review
We read your instructions, the questions you set and the papers you send us, then flag anything missing or unclear before the work starts.
Assessor Match
The case goes to the clinician on our psychiatry and psychology team whose training and experience best fit the condition and the questions involved.
The Assessment
We arrange the assessment in person or by secure video link, whichever suits the person and the case. The assessor reviews the relevant records.
Report Writing
The assessor then writes the report to answer the questions you set, drawing on the assessment and the papers together, in plain, direct language.
Report Delivery
Within the timescale we agreed at the start of the instruction, the finished report reaches you, so you can meet your own court dates.
0330 380 2184
Who Will Carry Out Your Assessment ?
Victoria Sample or a member of our team carries out each assessment. Ask us who will assess your case and what qualifications they hold, and put that question to every expert you consider. A vague answer is a warning sign. Practice Direction 35 requires every report to give the expert’s qualifications, and to name whoever carried out any examination or test, with their qualifications and whether the expert supervised them. Those details let you check the assessor’s standing for yourself before the report reaches a judge or the other side.
What Affects the Cost and Turnaround of an Expert Witness Report?
Cost depends on how complex the questions are, how many records we must read and how tight your deadline is. We do not quote a fixed fee before we have seen your papers.
If you are applying for permission to rely on an expert, tell us. Rule 35.4(2) requires an estimate of the expert’s costs with that application, and we can provide one after reviewing your referral. The court can limit the expert fees you recover from the other side (Rule 35.4(4)), so settle the scope early. Turnaround also depends on the court’s timetable. Give us your deadline on the first call and we will say plainly if it is realistic.
Expert Witness Assessments for Solicitors Across England and Wales
We regularly take instructions from solicitors in London, the Midlands, Greater Manchester, Yorkshire, the North East, Hampshire and Dorset, and South Wales. Firms based elsewhere are welcome to instruct us too. CPR Part 35 applies in England and Wales, so that is where we work. Scotland and Northern Ireland run their own court rules.
Our office is in Bramcote, a suburb between Beeston and Stapleford, about five miles west of Nottingham city centre in the East Midlands. The A52, which links the M1 to Nottingham, runs through Bramcote. When you instruct us, tell us where the person is, any mobility or access needs they have, and whether they can manage or would prefer a video call. We plan the assessment around where the person lives, not where the court sits.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an expert witness do in a civil claim?
An expert witness gives the court an independent opinion on a question beyond the judge’s own knowledge, such as the cause or extent of a psychiatric injury. The opinion normally arrives as a written report, because Rule 35.5 makes written evidence the default unless the court directs otherwise.
Do I need the court's permission to use an expert report?
Yes. Rule 35.4(1) bars any party from calling an expert or putting an expert’s report in evidence without the court’s permission. Your application identifies the field, the issues and, where practicable, the expert, and any permission the court gives covers only that expert or field.
Do I need an expert witness for my claim?
Only if your case turns on a specialist question the court cannot resolve alone, such as psychological injury. Rule 35.1 restricts expert evidence to what the court reasonably needs to resolve the proceedings, so it can refuse evidence on points that are minor or not in dispute.
How much does a CPR Part 35 expert witness report cost?
We quote after reviewing your referral, because cost follows the questions, the records and your deadline. Ask what the quote includes. If the other side puts written questions to the expert under rule 35.6, the instructing party pays the expert’s fee for answering them (PD 35 para 6.2).
How long does an expert witness assessment take?
It depends on your questions, the size of the file and the timetable the court has set, so we agree a timescale with you before the assessment starts. If the deadline is at risk, tell us early. An expert can ask the court for directions under rule 35.14.
Can a single joint expert be challenged?
Both parties can put written questions to a single joint expert under rule 35.6, and the answers form part of the report. Every instruction to that expert must also go to the other parties at the same time (rule 35.8(2)), so nobody instructs in private.
Does an agreement between experts bind the parties?
No. Agreement between the experts binds the parties only if they expressly agree to it (rule 35.12(5)). The discussion itself stays out of the trial unless the parties agree (Rule 35.12(4)), although the court can direct a statement of what the experts agree and dispute.
Can I use an expert report the other side has disclosed?
Rule 35.11 says any party may use an expert’s report as evidence at trial once a party has disclosed it. That includes you. If the other side’s expert reaches a finding you accept, you can rely on it, and the court decides what weight it carries.
Can the other side see the instructions I give the expert?
Partly. Your instructions are not privileged, and Rule 35.10(3) requires the report to state the substance of every material instruction. The court will not order disclosure of specific documents, or allow questioning by anyone but you, unless it sees reasonable grounds to think that statement inaccurate or incomplete.
What happens if an expert changes their opinion after the report?
Practice Direction 35 paragraph 2.5 expects the expert to tell all the parties without delay, and the court when appropriate, if their view changes on any material matter after producing a report. That applies to every expert on the case, including ours, whichever side instructs them.
Who pays a single joint expert?
Unless the court directs otherwise, the parties sharing the expert are each liable for the expert’s fees and expenses in full, so the expert can claim them from any one of them (rule 35.8(5)). Before instruction, the court may limit the fee or order payment into court (rule 35.8(4)).
Talk Through Your CPR Part 35 Instruction With Us
Call while your deadline still leaves room, and we can plan the assessment around it. Send your letter of instruction, the papers you hold and the questions you need answered.
We also carry out medico-legal assessments for wider psychiatric and psychological questions, and Rule 35 immigration assessments, which support a separate process under the Detention Centre Rules that CPR Part 35 does not cover. Reach Gain Expert Assessments at Office 17 The Grove, Peache Way, Bramcote, Nottingham NG9 3DX or call 0330 380 2184 to open a first conversation about your instruction.