1. Initial Contact and Case Review

Before accepting any assignment, we ask for the evidence and information available at the time of contact. This allows us to review the matter on its merits before committing to it, rather than accepting work first and forming an opinion afterward.

2. Selective Acceptance

We only accept matters where we believe our expertise can materially assist. We decline matters where the evidence is overwhelming to the point that our engagement would simply place us in the position of testifying against you or your client under cross-examination.

Example: if dashcam footage, cellphone forensics, and independent witness statements already establish fault beyond dispute, taking the matter would expose our own findings to being used against the party that engaged us. We would decline, or narrow the engagement to a specific technical point that remains genuinely contested.

3. Scope Proposal

Once we have reviewed the available evidence, we submit a written proposal covering the work we recommend, the depth we believe the analysis requires, the travel and fieldwork involved, and how our involvement will interface with the procedural stages of the matter as it progresses.

4. Costing and Terms of Engagement

The proposal is accompanied by a costing estimate and the formal terms of engagement. Most matters proceed on a retainer, deposit, or upfront payment basis.

5. Payment in Advance

We typically require payment before work begins. This removes any financial incentive, real or perceived, to shape a finding toward a favourable outcome to secure an outstanding balance. It is a safeguard for independence, and it is defensible on the stand if opposing counsel raises the question of bias.

6. Detailed Evidence Request

On acceptance, we issue a case-specific evidence request. This list is built around the particulars of the matter and can be extensive. We commit fully to understanding a case before forming a view on it. This is also why we limit the number of engagements we carry at any one time.

7. Field Work (Investigative Engagements)

Where we are engaged in an investigative capacity, field work proceeds once we hold the situational evidence needed, scene location, vehicle presence and condition, and the institutions or organisations from which further evidence must be obtained.

Example: scene geometry, sight lines, and surface conditions are documented and measured directly, rather than relied upon from a police sketch alone.

8. Evidence Recommendations (Consulting Engagements)

Where we are engaged in a consulting capacity rather than an investigative one, we issue detailed recommendations on the evidence to locate, secure, request, or demand, directed at counsel or the instructing party to action.

Example: recommending a formal request for vehicle event data recorder (EDR) data before it is overwritten, or for CCTV retention before the standard deletion cycle runs.

9. Ongoing Evidence and Disclosure Requests

As our own investigation or review develops, we may submit further rounds of questions covering available evidence, newly disclosed evidence, or gaps that require formal requests, disclosure, or submission.

10. Integration of Admissions and Shortfalls

Where we have proposed that specific evidence be requested or demanded, and an opposing party admits that it is absent, lost, or was never collected, we integrate that admission and the resulting evidentiary shortfall into your report or submission, depending on the nature of the engagement.

Example: a documented absence of maintenance records or inspection logs can itself become a point of analysis, going to the standard of care rather than to the collision mechanics alone.

11. In-Depth Analysis of the Evidence Bundle

Any physical evidence, digital evidence, expert reports, or other material within the bundle that bears on our analysis, report, submissions, testimony, or anticipated cross-examination is addressed in depth, not summarised in passing.

12. Reporting

Once all exchanges, disclosures, submissions, admissions, and analysis relevant to our scope are complete, we submit our report, or formal guidance on the aspects of the case under our review.

13. Post-Submission Support

We remain on record after submission for guidance during depositions, further submissions, joint expert report compilation, and trial conferences.

14. Presence Through Trial

We remain present in a consulting capacity throughout trial, whether or not we are called to testify ourselves.

15. Live Technical Guidance During Testimony

During the testimony and cross-examination of opposing parties, whether before or after our own testimony, we remain in court to provide live guidance to counsel on the technical aspects of what is being said.

Example: flagging in real time where an opposing expert has misapplied a formula, misstated a measurement, or contradicted their own report, so counsel can raise it in cross-examination while the witness is still on the stand.

16. Testimony

Unless engaged purely as trial consultants, we testify as required, subject to the applicable court's procedures, jurisdiction, and rules of evidence.