Most judicial criticism  of experts arises from either ignorance of the basic rules of expert evidence or because experts who understand and have tried to apply the rules have slipped off the straight and narrow  path, usually from a desire to help their clients.

So while judges comments are often direct and colourful they generally accept the understandable human urge to help and temper their criticism accordingly. However, from time to time experts  don’t just slip off the path they deliberately choose to jump off the cliff in pursuit of their client’s interests.

In Marples & Ors v Secretary of State for Education compensation was claimed from the Skills Funding Agency, the amount of which depended on expert evidence from a  forensic accountant.  Concerns were initially raised about involvement of one of the claimant’s, himself an accountant, in the production of a joint statement. Letters, witness statements and some document disclosure followed and it appears that over the course of what must have been a somewhat eventful hearing, to put it mildly, it became clear that the client had been heavily involved in the production of the joint statement.