1.    The following terms and conditions shall apply to the provision of medical reports and expert medical witness work by Mr Paul (Christopher) Nolan MD FRCS (ORTH).  GMC Number 3256048.

2.    Charges

2.1  Preparing a written report in a straightforward soft tissue injury where there is no additional documentation to review and no other reports to comment on is £450 per report plus VAT.

2.2  A specific spinal report where there has been a significant injury will attract a standard fee of £975 per report plus VAT if there is no additional documentation to review.

2.3  Medical Negligence and Clinical Negligence reports are estimated at £975 initially plus VAT for the report only without any review of records or documentation.  Further costs may be levied dependent on research required, obtaining and analysing disability questionnaires and review of medical notes and records and any relevant imaging.

2.4  Hourly rate for considering all the relevant information and reviewing other expert reports and imaging is £975 per hour plus VAT.

2.5  Addendum reports reviewing medical records are charged at £4 per page reviewed plus £450 for preparation of the report.

2.6  If the instructing solicitors cancel the request for a medical report at short notice, then the medical witness shall be entitled to charge instructing solicitors an appropriate fee reflecting the work and administrative time to the date of the cancellation.

2.7  Non-attendance fees are £400 per client unless there are exceptional mitigating circumstances.

2.8  Making myself available to give evidence as an expert witness in court – £3000 per full day or £1500 per half day.  All related expenses including travel and hotel costs if necessary.

2.9  Where the medical witness has made himself available to give evidence in court and subsequently, due to an out-of-court settlement or for any other reason, is no longer required to appear on the date specifically specified, the medical witness shall be entitled to charge a percentage of the original fee agreed for appearing in court.  If notification of cancellation is received within seven days, then the full fee will be required.  If notification of cancellation is received beyond eight days and earlier than twenty-one days then a 50% cancellation fee will be levied.  Beyond twenty-one days no cancellation fee will be levied.

3.    Payment

Payment will be required for reports prior to their release unless otherwise agreed in advance.  For solicitors from whom I receive regular instruction and by prior agreement reports will be released without advance payment.

Payment will be required for all reports and no later than one year after receipt, regardless of whether or not the case has settled.  If payment is not received after one-year interest will be charged at a standard rate.

HMRC indicate that I am liable for all reports invoiced, regardless of whether payment has been received, and therefore credit terms cannot be extended beyond a one-year period.

4.    Solicitors Duty

It is the duty of the instructing solicitors, so far as possible, to provide all the relevant information to enable me to prepare a report to assist the court.  Reports can only be prepared on the information provided.  Reports cannot be rewritten or amended if relevant information is subsequently provided.  In these circumstances, addendum reports will be provided at an additional charge citing the sources of all additional information.

The instructing solicitors should ensure that I am provided with all the relevant details in relation to the client including name, date of birth, address and occupation.  The date and mechanism of the accident should also be included.  If there are any issues to be considered these should be highlighted in the initial letter of instruction.

In complex cases where there have been significant injuries, it will be apparent in advance of the appointment that medical records will be required, and these should be provided prior to the client attendance.  Reports that have already been obtained from other experts he should also be made available.

It is the duty of the instructing solicitor to ensure that clear and adequate instructions and all relevant information is provided to the expert witness.

On receipt of the medical report it is the duty of the instructing solicitor to review the report for factual accuracy before sharing the report with the opposing party.

5.    Joint expert reports.

On occasion, experts will be instructed by the court to prepare a joint report considering the areas where they can agree and disagree.  It is the duty of the instructing solicitors to ensure that agreement has been obtained from all parties for experts to enter into discussions.  Prior to the discussions it is the duty of the instructing solicitors to provide a list of questions that should be addressed and issues that can or cannot be considered.

In light of the recent case of Jones v Kaney where an expert changed their opinion following a joint discussion, without receipt of additional information, it has been my standard practice to record all joint discussions between experts.  I normally use the facility conferencecall.co.uk which allows multiple experts to consult and provides a digital recording of the conversations.

Joint expert reports will be charged at the hourly rate for each expert involved in the discussion.