Our review of market literature suggests that there is a lot of information and guidance for  counsel and their clients on deciding whether to engage a damages expert and on finding and selecting the ‘right’ person. However, there is significantly less guidance on how, having selected your expert, to effectively work with them. Effective use of damages experts can generate significant value for the parties in a dispute. We have, on many occasions, been deployed  effectively as damages experts, although sometimes circumstances have led to less effective use of our services. This white paper collates our experiences as well as the guidance expressed in third-party reference materials to promote an effective working relationship between lawyers and damages experts. Working effectively with damages experts starts with when and how you engage with an expert, however there are things to consider at all stages of the engagement.

Counsel and the client should provide as much information as possible to the expert, including facts that would be useful and detrimental to the client’s case. It is best to let the expert know all the facts at the outset and understand how they may affect their opinion, rather than have those appear later in the process, forcing the expert to revise their opinions.

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About the authors

Roula Harfouche is a Partner in the London office of HKA, and a Fellow of the ICAEW. She has over 21 years’ experience performing and managing valuations in a variety of contexts, in particular in disputes. Roula specialises in contentious valuations and the assessment of complex damages in international arbitration and litigation cases. She has been appointed as expert and has testified in English and French on the assessment of damages and complex valuation issues.

Roula is recognised among the leading expert witnesses worldwide by Who’s Who Legal in the Thought Leaders Global Elite list, in Arbitration, for the quantum of damages and in forensic accounting.

Roula has worked on matters before the UK High Court, the UK Family Division, the Patents Court, the French commercial court, the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), as well as in LCIA, ICC, SCC, HKIAC, PCA, Cairo Regional Center For International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution (SCIA), the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI), and ICSID arbitration forums and under the UNCITRAL rules, and in mediation.

Leon Fellas is an Associate Director in HKA’s Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages practice. He has a decade of experience in contentious valuations, commercial and corporate reporting valuations, damages and forensic investigations.

Leon specialises in contentious valuations and complex damages assessments in civil litigation, international arbitration and expert determinations. Leon has worked on matters before the UK High Court, UK Family Division, Cayman Islands Grand Court, Singapore International Commercial Court, Family Court of Australia as well as LCIA, ICC, SCAI and ICSID arbitration forums and under UNCITRAL rules and in mediations. He has also acted as a shadow expert to single joint experts.

Leon is an associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments (CISI). He also sits on the advisory Members’ Panel of NEST, the UK’s biggest pension scheme.