An expert witness report is a document prepared for the court under a duty that overrides any duty to the party paying for it. It must set out the expert's instructions, qualifications, the facts and assumptions relied on, the reasoning behind each conclusion, and any matter that would materially affect the opinion. A valuation prepared for a client and later relabelled as expert evidence will not satisfy that standard.
Which code applies depends on the jurisdiction. We confirm it with the instructing solicitor before drafting, because it changes the structure of the report.
Expert valuation evidence is usually needed where the value of real property is genuinely in dispute, or where a single expert has been appointed to resolve it.
The valuation methodology is the same rigorous process we apply to every report — the difference is in the documentation. Every assumption is attributed to an instruction or a source, so that each step can be tested in the witness box.
A report is often the start rather than the end. We are available for the steps that follow, and we quote them separately so there are no surprises.
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