Expert witnesses share their experiences Shifting timescales Robert Lockie CFP™ Chartered FCSI, branch principal and chartered wealth manager at Bloomsbury Wealth, was referred by a friend for expert witness work in November 2019. “I thought it would be fairly easy to do
it during work but it came at the same time as the year end. The market was plummeting, and the pandemic lockdown hit, so I had to do it in evenings and weekends instead. There were mountains of documents and it took a long time,” said Rob. He spent 169 hours in total on the case,
which included 45 hours drafting the report, 72 reviewing and amending it, and 3 hours 40 minutes in court. The remaining time was spent on reading documents, conference calls, emails, a meeting with counsel, witness training, and travel to court. Robert negotiated an hourly rate and submitted monthly invoices and kept a detailed timesheet of his work, which made the payment easier. He says that an expert witness should
have the ability to review large volumes of data, have the attention to detail to identify inconsistencies, be able to communicate clearly, meet deadlines, and think under pressure. Despite the workload, Robert is open
to acting as an expert witness again and has since received two other offers.
Detailed research Shannon Currie CFP™ Chartered MCSI, director at Perceptive Planning, has already acted in several cases, supporting expert witnesses in research and acting as one herself. This has mostly been on civil cases but she has also worked on a high-profile criminal case. A notable aspect of the case was the
long timescale as it related to matters that had occurred some ten years before, meaning she needed historical knowledge of the economic and regulatory environment prevailing at the time as well as current knowledge of the context. One aspect she notes that helped her
was having barristers as clients at her financial planning firm as she is familiar with how they communicate and act. “One needs to be very careful not to conflate what is a ‘known fact’ with opinion based on that fact. Your opinion and judgement are what you are hired
CISI.ORG/REVIEW
TIMELINE OF
ANDREW PAGE AND OTHERS V
FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY
May 2019 The FCA publishes decision notices regarding five individuals whom the FCA alleged had acted recklessly and dishonestly and provided false and/or misleading information. The individuals had formerly been directors at failed financial advice firms and provided unsuitable advice to over 2,000 customers. This advice caused them to move their pension benefits, via self-invested personal pensions (SIPPs), into high-risk financial products in which an unauthorised firm, which had referred the customers, had significant financial interest. The individuals applied to have the decision overturned at the Upper Tribunal.
November 2019 Robert Lockie receives his first contact regarding acting as an expert witness for the case.
December 2019 He receives confirmation that he will be acting for the FCA.
January 2020 He receives a document bundle of evidence, submitted by the five applicants, on which to base his report.
May 2020 He sends the draft report to the FCA’s legal team for review and amendments.
September 2020 Following various delays on the part of the applicants, the final report is served to the court.
November 2021 Hearing begins and is scheduled to run for five weeks, although Lockie is only called to appear on one day.
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May 2022 The Upper Tribunal court publishes its 300-page judgement ruling that the five individuals allowed their “instincts and values” to be “overridden” and their judgement to be compromised for personal financial gain. They also failed to scrutinise where their customers’ pension funds were being invested. As a result, they were banned from working in financial services and fined over £1m. Three were subsequently (December 2022) disqualified from acting as company directors.
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