Dueling Technical Experts

ABSTRACT

A seemingly increasing number of disputes or arguments relating to coating, lining or corrosion issues culminate in the involvement of a technical expert or consultant.  Sometimes, if the parties are very serious about their positions or if large sums of money or prestige are at stake, lawyers also get involved.

However, the roles that technical experts and lawyers undertake in such disputes often become blurred or indefinite, and this can become problematic or may jeopardise the correct, objective and impartial settlement of the dispute.  A lawyer is hired to advocate his client’s position, and too often, the technical expert – possibly in a misguided attempt to provide the best possible service to his client – also assumes, adopts or morphs into an advocacy role, risking his technical credibility.

This paper outlines the role and modus operandi that good and effective technical experts should take in disputes, and gives some examples of cases where experts have abandoned their primary roles as fact-finders and fact-interpreters, and have become hired guns or duelists.