Expert’s preliminary report

Jackson v Marley Davenport Ltd CA SJ 1 October; TLR 7 October

The claimant claimed damages for injuries following a fall from a ladder while at work and his solicitors instructed an expert to prepare a report for the purposes of a conference. The expert’s final report served on the defendant referred to letters of instruction and to other documents and gave the appearance that the expert might have changed his view from his preliminary report. The defendant’s application for disclosure of the first report was dismissed. CPR rule 35.13 does not provide the courts with the power to order the disclosure of earlier reports made by experts in preparation of the final report. There was no doubt that where an expert made a report for legal advisers or for the purposes of a conference, such a report was subject to litigation privilege at the time it was made. References in CPR rule 35.10(2) had to be references to the actual expert’s evidence and not earlier draft reports.