Expert Witness Journal Issue 67 June/July 2026 - Flipbook - Page 124
Brown v Sterne & Others
by Dr T. Walford, Banking Expert Witness at Expert Evidence International Limited.
In this Northern Irish case, the issue of an expert
witness relying on a privileged document is explored,
as well as considering how this should be addressed
in future cases.
Requesting access
In this hearing, the Claimant was seeking access
to a statement made by the Defendant dated 13
September 2021 (the ‘Statement‘) which had been
referred to by the Defendant’s expert witness.
Subsequently, the Defendant had refused to share
this document on the grounds that it was privileged.
Background
This case is one of alleged medical negligence. Ms.
Deborah Brown (the ‘Claimant‘) alleges that she
was injured due to negligence whilst undergoing
a routine smear test, performed by Dr Sterne (the
‘Defendant‘). She also alleges further negligence in
the subsequent treatment of the original injury.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
Legal
privilege
protects
con昀椀dential
communications between a lawyer and client from
disclosure to third parties and can only be waived
in narrow circumstances, unless it is considered that
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