On 12 June 2014, in response to the Superior Court decision in Moore v. Getahun earlier this year, the Advocates’ Society released a Position Paper on Communications with Testifying Experts as well as Principles Governing Communications with Testifying Experts.
The
Position Paper and
Principles were written by a task force of more than twenty senior lawyers. The
Position Paper explains why
Moore v. Getahun goes too far by imposing categorical “rules” that apply in all cases for the purpose of safeguarding the independence and objectivity of testifying experts. The Position Paper also discusses problems that arise from applying the Moore v. Getahun requirements and reviews relevant jurisprudence. The Position Paper describes the derivation of “best practices”, identified as Principles, that legal counsel should consider following when retaining and interacting with expert witnesses. The Principles are published separately with elaborating text.
You can access the Advocates’ Society’s webpage on communications with expert witnesses here.
Moore v. Getahun is under appeal currently and the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association has a pending motion for intervener status. No dates have been scheduled yet.