Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

[Prosperous1]

Following on from my previous post there is still no sign of medicolegal report addendum. All the excuses under the sun have come out. Expert on holiday. Secretary then on holiday. Couldn't read file. Didn't get one report. Password didn't work. Now confirmed all records there and have experience been for weeks but has staff off. Solicitor said they have no say whatsoever in the medical experts workload and time frame and mentioned he only person he is accountable to is the court. I would need the court to order him to complete the report by a certain date. Can anyone tell me how to do this. What are the likely time frames from applying to the court and then if they do grant the order how long will the expert have. Thanks in advance

[Openlaw15]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Following on from my previous post there is still no sign of medicolegal report addendum. All the excuses under the sun have come out. Expert on holiday. Secretary then on holiday. Couldn't read file. Didn't get one report. Password didn't work. Now confirmed all records there and have experience been for weeks but has staff off. Solicitor said they have no say whatsoever in the medical experts workload and time frame and mentioned he only person he is accountable to is the court. I would need the court to order him to complete the report by a certain date. Can anyone tell me how to do this. What are the likely time frames from applying to the court and then if they do grant the order how long will the expert have. Thanks in advance

The medical expert is only the witness for the defence so its either solicitor/ barrister being potentially unreasonable. How long has the defence's medical expert had thus far to produce and serve the med. report addendum?

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Thanks for the input. The medical expert is instructed by my solocitor not the defense. The third party havent been unreasonable (yet) the delays lie purely with the medical expert i was sent to by my solicitor and hom conpleting his addendum to the original report. Weve been waiting for the addendum for over 3 months. Have had a phone call from the solicitor today telling me its been pushed to the top of his pile....

[Kati]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

original thread - http://legalbeagles.info/forums/show...846#post650846

[Openlaw15]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Thanks for the input. The medical expert is instructed by my solocitor not the defense. The third party havent been unreasonable (yet) the delays lie purely with the medical expert i was sent to by my solicitor and hom conpleting his addendum to the original report. Weve been waiting for the addendum for over 3 months. Have had a phone call from the solicitor today telling me its been pushed to the top of his pile....

You either represent yourself or the solicitor does for you. At best you can change your solicitor, a medical report should not take anywhere near 3 months. Your solicitor should be pressing the med. expert and arrangements should have been in place for timelines for submitting medical evidence. Only if the medical evidence has been submitted to court can it be used for trial. The defence will need a copy too,

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

If only it was that simple. Im tied in byt the agreement that if I change sols I must pay for work up to date....
And no other medical expert is willing to provide a report as this isnt a fresh report, its an adendum to the original report due to me having surgery and physio. Medical expert has me by the balls so to speak and knows it, hence asking how to get the court to instruct him to hurry up as the solicitor is powerless. They have raised a complaint with the medical agency and apparently its now a priorty

[Openlaw15]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

If only it was that simple. Im tied in byt the agreement that if I change sols I must pay for work up to date....
And no other medical expert is willing to provide a report as this isnt a fresh report, its an adendum to the original report due to me having surgery and physio. Medical expert has me by the balls so to speak and knows it, hence asking how to get the court to instruct him to hurry up as the solicitor is powerless. They have raised a complaint with the medical agency and apparently its now a priorty

The claimant's solicitor can get the opponent to force their evidence but how does he force his own medical witness, is the problem. I think the complaint route as you have taken is probably the best. How much is this addendum going to cost?

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

The main cost is from the initial report, the adendum is at a lesser fee, although he has asked for, and had agreed, an increase in fee due to the sheer amount of medical reports/scans/ultra sounds and physio records he has to go through. I think initially he was thinking soft tissue, rubbing his hands, nice little earner for a quick report but the fact the surgery was under general anaesthetic and had 3 different procedures means he has to do more work. Funny thing is he hasnt been paid a penny yet, and wont until the completed report so it is baffling. Obviously doesnt need the money

[JackieG]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Hi

Sorry to hear of the difficulties with your medical expert. The solicitor could apply a bit more pressure here in respect of complaints procedures / service standards and in not instructing anymore (although with Medco - solicitors now don't have a lot of choice in respect of lower value claims and experts). Medical agencies can apply even more pressure I would have thought as they can take experts off their books. The solicitor is clearly reluctant to make the application, as they won't get paid for doing so. There is also the court fee to consider and then the appearance before a judge etc which mounts up. Unfortunately this is not unusual as experts do tend to take on more than perhaps they should. I do hope you get the report soon and the matter then proceeds to your satisfaction..

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Thanks for the reply. Im not sure wht classes as a low value claim but it was kicked out of portal as it will exceed 10k and ive already declined this before any medical evidence. Looking on at least double. Solicitor has allegedly raised a complaint with the medical agency and has been told (again) its a priority. Ive agreed with them i will allow a reasonabke time (14 days) for the report to be received in light of this or i am adamant as their client that my instructiom is to issue an apllication. I am already in the official complaints procedure with them too. She mentioned she would have to check with her supervisor as the fee (think it was £260) may not be recovered. I told her i would pay it upfront to speed things up... lets see what happens

[JackieG]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Hi

looks like you have covered everything.. so hopefully you will get the report soon.

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Report received by medical "expert" and sent to tp with schedule of other losses.
In the meantime barrister has came back with a valuation which I totally disagree with. He has listed my injury in the bracket of soft tissue damage nearly recovered in 2 years. Having looked on the jcb guidelines this puts the injury into the minor category. I had bone shaved and 2 other surgical procedures under general anaesthetic, left with scarring and have had 30 medical appointments. Hardly minor. Solicitor is asking him to look at it again. In meantime TP have came back with a 13k offer. I have refused. They won't break down what is for injuries what is for loss of earnings and are refusing to pay for care. Meaning if I accept any offer I will have to pay 25 percent on the full amount whereas if broken down loe is all mine. Can I insist that this is just dealt with by court. I feel a judge will be much fairerror than the solicitor I am using and the TP who are extracting urine. Many thanks

[Openlaw15]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Report received by medical "expert" and sent to tp with schedule of other losses.
In the meantime barrister has came back with a valuation which I totally disagree with. He has listed my injury in the bracket of soft tissue damage nearly recovered in 2 years. Having looked on the jcb guidelines this puts the injury into the minor category. I had bone shaved and 2 other surgical procedures under general anaesthetic, left with scarring and have had 30 medical appointments. Hardly minor. Solicitor is asking him to look at it again. In meantime TP have came back with a 13k offer. I have refused. They won't break down what is for injuries what is for loss of earnings and are refusing to pay for care. Meaning if I accept any offer I will have to pay 25 percent on the full amount whereas if broken down loe is all mine. Can I insist that this is just dealt with by court. I feel a judge will be much fairerror than the solicitor I am using and the TP who are extracting urine. Many thanks

If the defendant has admitted liability he is responsible for the separate/ independent damages; 1) loss of earnings; 2) health care costs; 3) pain and suffering during accident, on way to hospital, in hospital, on way home from hospital, at home etc, in addition to; 4) the personal injury itself; as all are separate damage heads. If you being paid statutory sick pay from your employer, I believe this will be deducted from your loss of earnings, as the rule is the tort-feasor (defendant) is only liable for actual losses. £13k sounds rather low.

[Prosperous1]

Re: Dealing with obstructive medical expert via court

Thanks for the reply. I'm self employed.. well Director of my own Ltd Co so no sick pay so nothing to be deducted from loe. Imy glad you also think it's low.still waiting to hear back from solicitor so will update when I do. She is also waiting to hear back from the barrister to answer my points. The TP insurer is refusing to break down the payment make up hence me wanting it to go to court so I can assure each head of claim is considered and answered.