In our line of work, the most senior of the technical consultants are engaged by clients as expert witnesses in court cases and tribunals. We charge double time for this because it’s an extremely stressful job. Dr Peter, one of my mentors, is a world-acknowledged expert in his particular field of environmental work, yet on the witness stand, lawyers have attacked his credibility. Peter told me about one case where his client had a technically unassailable case, which the prosecution could not match. The prosecuting lawyer chose not to question the technical merits of the analysis and instead, proceeded to attack Peter’s professional and personal character. The aim was to cast doubt on Peter’s competency and integrity.

In the end, our client lost that case.

“Do you think this was fair? Did the judge choose the correct outcome?” I asked Peter.

He considered my question. “No,” he said after a while. “I don’t think it was the right decision.”

At work, there are sometimes flyers in the tea room advertising training workshops on how to be an expert witness. It really is something you have to train for. You have to learn to manoeuvre yourself out of the traps that are set for you. You have to know which laws and regulations to memorise. You have to learn to play a game you have no experience in.

Yesterday, I came across Intota, a website where you can hire expert witnesses in particular fields. For example, check out this expert in ‘Industrial Ventilation System Engineering for Dust and Vapor Control’. It seems like a useful service and maybe one day, I’ll be good enough to be an expert witness. The risk with this kind of thing is that maybe you can hire experts to say anything you want.