The Expert Witness: insights and opportunities

Expert engineers are highly sought after by the legal profession to act as independent expert advisors or expert witnesses to help avoid or resolve disputes.

This free webinar brought together members of the Institution that are acting as Expert Witnesses with our colleagues at the Academy of Experts, the professional and accrediting body for expert witnesses.

The webinar shared practical guidance on what’s involved in the process whether you are considering starting out as an Expert Witness or an experienced expert interested in best practice.

Reasons to watch

• Hear practicing engineering experts share an insight into their experience

• Find out more about the responsibilities of an Expert Witness and what you need to know if you are considering getting started

• Get a useful refresher if you are already acting as an expert - this session will act as a brief refresher of the fundamental principles

• Find out more about the IStructE Expert Witness register and partnership with The Academy of Experts, and the resources available to you

Intended for

This webinar is open to all however may be of particular interest to Chartered members. It is suitable for both those interested in becoming Experts and experienced Experts.

Speakers

Michael Cohen is deeply involved in the world of Dispute Resolution. He is Director of The ADR Centre London, a Qualified Mediator, Chartered Arbitrator as well as an Expert Adviser & Witness. He is a Past President of EuroExpert (The Organisation for European Expert Associations). As Chairman Emeritus of The Academy of Experts he is responsible for the professional standards and training of Experts and Dispute Resolvers around the world. He devised The Academy of Expert’s Expert Witness and Expert Determination training which is now in operation in the UK and elsewhere. He is a course director and a regular tutor as well as a variety of other roles. These include being the Editor of The Expert & Dispute Resolver (The Academy’s Journal) As an experienced Dispute Resolver he has been involved in litigation, arbitration mediation and many forms of ADR. He has dealt with a wide range of disputes in various jurisdictions. Michael Cohen's experience is very widely based both geographically and in type of work.

Helen Collie is a chartered structural engineer and a Principal at global dispute resolution consultancy, HKA. With experience ranging from design and coordination of arts, education, healthcare and commercial structures, Helen transitioned over the last few years to become a specialist in forensic engineering work. Her experience includes insurance-based property loss consulting, cause and origin reporting, and forensic investigations for disputes including litigation support, more recently as an expert witness herself. She has produced reports either assisting or as named expert in issues of disputed design liability, coordination issues, materials/specifications defects, alleged poor workmanship, and construction defects. Helen now leads the building structures group at HKA.

Don McQuillan is immediate Past President (2020-2021) of IStructE. He is a director of RPS, a global energy resources and environmental consultancy. He specialises in project managing multidisciplinary projects and in structural and forensic engineering. Don is also a RAE Visiting Professor at Queen’s University Belfast. He is passionate about mentoring younger engineers, providing technical support and guidance to members and promoting the Institution as the world leader in structural engineering.