Frequently asked questions

Our panel spans medicine, mental health and beyond: consultant physicians and surgeons, psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs, radiologists, dental surgeons, nurses, midwives, therapists, pharmacists, occupational health consultants, social workers, forensic accountants and country-of-origin experts. The panel continues to grow, so if you need a specialty not listed, ask us.

Send us an enquiry outlining the case, the expertise required and your deadline. We will identify a suitable expert, confirm availability and provide a quote or fee estimate. Once you send your letter of instruction and the case papers, we arrange any assessment and manage the process through to delivery of the report.

Provided we receive all the relevant papers before the appointment takes place, most reports reach you within 14 working days of the expert assessing your client.

Often, yes, although it depends on what the case involves and which experts are free at the time. Tell us your deadline when you enquire; if we cannot meet it, we will say so straight away rather than leave you waiting.

The majority of our panel undertakes legally aided work, criminal and civil alike, charging at the Legal Aid Agency's codified rates. These differ by discipline, by case type and by whether the matter sits inside or outside London: a psychiatrist, for example, attracts £108 per hour in civil proceedings, GP hourly rates fall between £72 and £91, and certain work, such as GP records reports, carries a fixed fee. We will confirm the rate that applies to your case on request.

For private work, payment usually comes through the instructing solicitor on the client's behalf; if your firm does not hold a client account, we accept direct bank transfer instead. Where a matter is legally aided, as most criminal instructions are, your firm obtains prior authority from the Legal Aid Agency before the expert begins work. Privately funded instructions are quoted individually by the expert.

We cover England, Wales and Scotland, including London and the South East, the South West, the East, the Midlands, Yorkshire, the North East and the North West.

It depends on the discipline. Many medical examinations must take place in a clinic. Some experts assess remotely by video, while others, particularly psychiatrists, psychologists and speech and language therapists, will travel to your client, including to prisons and other secure settings.

Yes. Our administrative team books the assessment at a clinic, interview room or your client's location, such as a prison, and coordinates directly with everyone involved so you do not have to.

Every medical expert we accept onto the panel must hold a medical degree together with postgraduate specialist training, and psychiatrists must be approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983. We also look for formal expert-witness training or certification, such as Bond Solon, as part of our vetting. Every report is proofread before it is released to you.

Yes. Our experts support prisoners' legal representation in appeals and Parole Board proceedings, and the panel includes clinicians accustomed to giving oral evidence before a coroner, among them forensic psychiatrists with death-in-custody experience.

It depends on the issues in your case. A psychiatrist is medically qualified, able to diagnose mental disorder and to treat it, including with medication, so instruct one where you need a diagnosis or evidence of psychiatric harm. A psychologist focuses on assessment and talking therapies rather than prescribing, and is the right choice for structured personality assessment, cognitive or intelligence testing, or attachment analysis. If you are unsure, we will advise on the appropriate discipline.

As a rule of thumb, allow one hour of expert reading time for every 60 pages of documentation. Denser material slows that rate and sparser material speeds it up, and this is reflected in the estimate you receive before work begins.

We handle all case papers in line with UK data protection law and the UK GDPR. Documents are exchanged through an encrypted, industry-standard secure file-transfer platform rather than by ordinary email attachment.