Expert Privilege in Civil Evidence

Expert evidence frequently wins or loses cases. The importance of handling that evidence properly is therefore paramount. Fundamental to this is the application of privilege. Indeed, thorny privilege issues - relating to expert documents, drafts, communications, instructions, collateral use, joint statements, statements of replaced experts, etc. - come up time and again in practice. This book approaches 'expert privilege' as a subcategory of privilege of its own. This is not because it is defined by a uniform subset of rules that apply to all situations in which expert material is at issue, but precisely because it is not. Neither can assumptions about privilege in expert evidence be based on other areas of application. Instead, 'expert privilege' is a highly idiosyncratic and problematic area. None of the traditional privilege texts are dedicated to this important subject. A book dealing with 'expert privilege' as a subject area of its own is therefore highly overdue. This is the firs