Being an expert: the other 25

by Hayley Cowle of Translate Hive

[EXPERTS, by their very nature, should know what they’re doing; but what about the surrounding support, the experience the solicitor receives from instruction to report?

Here, we examine the importance of the organisation that precedes an expert performing their role – whether examination or reporting – together with the input during and after their involvement: the report ‘aftermath’. They are all administrative roles essential to the success of an expert witness.

Having spent many decades dealing with expert witnesses we have found that success depends on three aspects: the initial instruction, the expert themselves and the reporting.

Arguably, the expert witness report itself – the product – is the most important aspect to get right, but for efficiency, and thus profitability and to ensure repeat business, the ‘other 25%’ is important to get right.

The instruction

The ability to instruct an expert swiftly and easily, preferably in one go, is imperative to providing a great initial customer experience. I recall some experts providing an Excel spreadsheet with a huge table of questions, the majority of which were irrelevant to the case in question. Tabbing through jumped illogically from question to answer space. Those were then emailed back and we never really knew whether they’d received them or not…for days: the experience was pretty poor.

With so many great customer experiences to be found online we thought we could take inspiration and do better. We developed a one-touch ability for a solicitor or client to instruct directly from their case management system (CMS), saving them considerable time. Creating automations to ensure we had the salient details and nothing surplus and then linking smartly to a client’s CMS systems such as Proclaim or any system that accepts APIs – that is, most built in the past few years – we made the experience as easy as ordering an Uber!

The system allows solicitors to see pretty much what we see: the status of their instruction, handlers, costs, ETA for the report, management information etc; pretty much anything they need to know.

As any expert witness will tell you, there are often idiosyncrasies with cases, so it is imperative to have human input. The expert is expensive and is best placed doing his specialist work; it would be frivolous to have them answering non-expertise or administrative questions. That’s where a well-trained support team comes into play. They should be empowered to deal with enquiries, quotes and common queries raised. They should be able to estimate roughly how long a report is expected to take or cost, so they can be a proactive help to the client, ushering them through the process.

The reporting aftermath

Once the expert has compiled their report, we’ve often seen it sent directly – which can lead to silly errors. A mix of autonomous software and humans can be used to quality assure the report, ensure that it is billed accurately and is sent to the correct people.

In some cases the primary data will be delivered direct to a client’s CMS via API connections, saving time and ensuring 100% accuracy. That also assists with some queries and supplemental questions; and often gives the client the ability to pay online.

Again, a well-trained support team is imperative to field minor queries from the expert and deal with any administration queries. They should have clear and honest communication with the expert and it helps greatly when they have a decent understanding of the expert’s subject.

The support team should be able to organise joint reports with other experts and liaise with solicitors or barristers to book the expert into various court hearings, including the terms required.

Above all they should provide an excellent customer experience for the expert’s clients, while fully supporting the expert’s requirements.

Summing up

To some degree the roles surrounding the expert witness have an element of business development. They have the ability in some cases to upsell products, and certainly to ensure the customer experience meets (or hopefully exceeds) their expectations. Solidifying the client-expert relationship gives both parties additional confidence in the supply chain.

The expert is entirely responsible for the content of their report, including their various obligations under the Civil Procedure Rules and to the court; however, it is the way the case is dealt with from cradle to grave, the supportive administration that enhances the client’s experience, thus increasing the likelihood of future instructions. The expert’s report is of primary importance, but great customer service is the icing on the cake. q www.yourexpertwitness.co.uk 23 23