In an article in the ACICA Review, published by the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration, Ruby Lee and David Van Homrigh of KordaMentha assess the experience of a year of virtual hearings in arbitration, particularly as regards expert evidence.
The article is entitled ‘Expert evidence – the value-add of virtual’. The authors conclude as follows:
“Experts will continue to play a critical role in assisting the arbitral tribunal to understand key aspects of the case before it. Factors such as early briefings, well-structured models and joint expert reports are some examples of areas where experts can be most impactful, applicable to both live and virtual hearings alike.
The sharing of a well-structured model on the screen or dashboards showing various trends and conclusions can be a powerful way of explaining technical matters. In a virtual environment this is even more the case with the tribunal’s focus squarely on the screens. While there are some perceived limitations in the ability to engage a tribunal and effectively explain large and complex technical matters in a virtual hearing, the opportunities that technology provides to enhance the presentation of impactful and credible expert evidence are great, though yet to be fully applied.”
Click here for the article.