Legal Consultancy
If you or a former partner are not satisfied with the result of a project and it is decided that legal action will be taken, the parties in question are required to provide an expert’s opinion on the matter. That’s where our team of experts comes in.
What are Expert Reports?
Expert reports are written documents that state facts, discuss details, explain reasoning, and justify the experts’ conclusions and opinions. We provide these reports as requested by the court for litigation or arbitration. Meaning we can provide them to aid a party in their claims in court or as a strictly neutral third party in a case that does not directly involve RIO.
The three types of Expert Reports that RIO provides are:
Engineering Reports
Accounting Reports
Banking Reports
What is the purpose of an Expert Report?
The purpose of an Expert’s Report is to set out the Expert’s opinion on matters within his expertise that he has been instructed to report on.
An expert provides the report to inform the court on matters outside its expertise and on which it has to decide to resolve the dispute before it.
In addition to the court’s use, the report will also inform the instructing party and its lawyers on technical matters to enable them to determine the strength of their legal case. During the preparation for the Hearing, it will be disclosed to the other side in the dispute, thus helping them to assess the strength of their own legal case. Should the other side have their Expert Witness, a copy of their Expert’s Report will be given to you similarly to how they get yours.
What’s inside an Expert Report?
The Report should be a concise statement of the facts, assumptions, and analysis used and done by the expert, followed by their opinion. It will have to comply with legal requirements.
The expert should make a clear separation between facts and their opinions. The reader should be able to understand and follow the reasoning leading to the conclusions reached in the Report. Although the Report may deal with technical matters, it should remain coherent, readable, and understandable by an intelligent layperson. It should not contain unexplained jargon or acronyms.
The court requires the expert to include a summary of the instructions they received. To avoid misunderstandings, it is recommended to give written instructions or to write verbal instructions and confirm them.
Engineering Reports
The first type of expert report that we provide is an engineering report. To provide an engineering report, we must first conduct a forensic engineering analysis.
Forensic engineering, when applied to the civil & ground engineering fields, describes the investigative work & reporting undertaken in connection with a legal dispute, insurance, civil claim, or allegation of professional negligence. A distinctive feature of forensic work is the assembly and documentation of all the relevant facts in a form that can be submitted to a Court, and an associated report prepared by a recognized expert in the field.
As such, the role of an engineering expert is usually to determine and document the facts surrounding an incident or event and then present an opinion based on those facts. Subsequently, the Court then makes the relevant ‘legal’ decisions pertaining to any responsibility or liability of a person or organization.
Engineering Experts are also:
- Bound by specific ‘codes of conduct’ established by various courts.
- Regarded as an ‘officer’ of the Court.
- Often work closely with insurance loss adjusters, lawyers, and barristers concerning a particular dispute and sometimes assist with the proceedings themselves.
Accounting Reports
Similar to engineering reports, accounting reports also require a forensic accounting analysis. A forensic accountant can help identify and locate the information you need to build or bolster your case.
Forensic accountants understand that during litigation, arbitration, or the period before filing suit, each step must be carefully calculated and strategized so that counsel can control and develop the process and, ultimately, the outcome of the case. A forensic accountant readily interprets financial data, understanding its significance to each independent case.
A qualified forensic accountant is also prepared to deal with the intricate legal system, aware of the differences between an expert and consultant, familiar with appropriate file maintenance, and the distinction between deposition testimony vs. trial testimony, and is prepared to meet time-sensitive deadlines.
A forensic accounting expert witness may provide an opinion on a range of matters including:
- The loss of earnings of a self-employed claimant in a personal injury or negligence claim
- Loss of profits of an owner-managed business as a result of an injury to the principal
- Future losses in the event of continuing loss
- Loss of capital value of a business following a loss
- Loss of profits a business has suffered as a result of a business interruption
- The effect of taxation on the loss of profits or income
- The value of a business in a divorce
- The tax effects of disposing of a business or a shareholding in a divorce
- Assessment of earnings of contributing parent in Child Maintenance Services claims and appeals
- Tracing personal financial assets
- Tracking movements of funds in fraud cases
- Assessing benefit under the Proceeds of Crime Act
Banking Reports
Banking laws are extensive and complex, often confusing even to people closely involved with the industry. In legal disputes involving bank personnel, clients, and other parties, the resolution often requires the expertise of a Banking Expert Witness who is not involved in the dispute.
Banking Expert Witnesses are able to assist with cases as simple as lending disputes with a bank customer or as complex as conflicts involving management from several different financial institutions.
There may be contractual disputes where parties interpret the contents of a document differently. Or there may be actions taken by one client or lender that are detrimental to another. In all cases, the testimony of a highly qualified banking expert witness may well be the deciding factor in determining which party is successful.
Regulators and class-action lawsuits involving mortgages are constantly challenging modern financial banking practices. Lenders and borrowers alike have challenged the actions of the other parties involved. Lenders have been accused of predatory practices, but borrowers have also been suspected of exaggerating incomes or assets when applying for mortgages.
In each type of situation, banking expert witnesses have been called on to assist in determining which party should be held accountable.