"Aspiring expert witnesses should ensure they have gained the right experience and honed their skills before taking on their first case"
As Ciarb is signatory of the ERE Pledge, we caught up with co-founder and chartered accountant Kathryn Britten FCA MCIArb to discuss the pipeline of female expert witnesses, and why being an expert witness can be a great career for a working mother.
Kathryn Britten MCIArb and Isabel Santos Kusman, both seasoned expert witnesses, started the Equal Representation for Expert Witnesses (ERE) Pledge to increase the number of women appointed as expert witnesses in 2022. They founded the initiative after a survey ERE conducted in 2020 revealed that more than half of respondents hadn’t seen any female expert witnesses testify in the previous three years.
Five years later, while there is still a lot of work to do – there is much to celebrate. The ERE Survey 2024 found that female experts appointed more than 20 times had risen to 36% from 32% in the previous year’s survey. Similarly, in the 2023 Survey, 79% of female respondents who hadn’t provided written or oral expert witness (yet) aspired to do so – in the 2024 Survey, 88% of respondents were now aspiring to become expert witnesses. The pipeline of female expert witnesses is growing.
However, survey respondents said that women were appointed or testified as the sole expert witness in just 9% of their cases in 2023, compared to 10% in 2022. Kathryn Britten comments, “I’m not surprised the dial hasn’t moved yet – most cases have a long lead time so it will be a while before we see any change filtering through. Our initiative is about making sure that women who are experts, or are aspiring to be experts, are given equal opportunity. It’s important that they’re given the chance to do the main job as the expert and not be kept in a ‘number two’ position.”
She notes that, so far, over 1,700 signatories from over 50 countries, including 138 organisations, have signed up to the ERE Pledge. “We’ve raised awareness about the inequities among expert witnesses, and now we can turn to driving change. I see huge enthusiasm from lawyers, arbitrators and judges as well as experts. However, it does take time. Next year I hope we will see more of a shift in the pattern – ERE is a long-term project.”
"Next year I hope we will see more of a shift... ERE is a long-term project"
Kathryn explains that for an aspiring expert witness, much rides on securing that first appointment and doing an excellent job. “Aspiring expert witnesses should ensure they have gained the right experience and honed their skills before taking on their first case. Successfully handling the first case will avoid potential setbacks and pave the way for more career opportunities so I would discourage anyone from pushing to become an expert witness before they’re ready.”
One thing to consider is why it is so difficult to get that first appointment. “In the survey, both the lawyers and the experts said a key reason for the paucity of female experts is because lawyers tend to use expert witnesses they’ve used before. It’s understandable, but it brings a real risk that you’re not getting the right expert for the job. Another reason given was that female expert witnesses need to be more visible. In order to have the right experts available in the pool, you need a big, diverse pool. You are never going to get that situation if you exclude women, even if it is unconsciously done. Women won’t aspire to be experts if they can’t see opportunities. The good news is that lots of women are aspiring to become experts now, and we don’t want to turn off that healthy pipeline.”
Many female experts Kathryn has spoken to have said they find networking difficult because networking opportunities are often male-dominated. “It’s not always easy to go into a room full of the opposite gender (whether you’re male or female). Breaking into conversations in that environment can be quite daunting. At ERE, we are trying to make networking easier. For example, we have run several events called ‘Meet the Expert’ globally. We match equal numbers of experts and lawyers in a similar field, and it’s a bit like speed dating. We have had some really inspiring and supportive speakers come along, such as, recently in London, the Rt Hon Dame Elizabeth Gloster and lots of great new connections have been made.”
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
The road to becoming an expert witness
“Like many chartered accountants, I trained in audit. I then went on to become an audit manager and then an audit partner,” explains Kathryn, who qualified with PwC. After having children, she stepped out of the workplace for six years. When she returned, it was initially to work part-time in a non-client facing, technical and training role.
“Looking back, I realise the role was great for my career as it meant I was at the top of my game technically. That helped my confidence at a stage in my career when it could have been difficult to come back into the workplace. At the time, forensic accounting as a discipline was just beginning to kick off – it was very much in its infancy. The opportunity came up for me to start working with an experienced audit expert – someone who’d already been testifying,” she says.
Kathryn grasped the opportunity, initially working as the expert’s number two where she learned the ropes and how everything worked. She explains, “This was before we had much international arbitration, so it was all litigation. After a couple of years, the audit expert gave me the opportunity to take on a case in my own right and I testified in the High Court. That was pivotal in my career and I went on to win more work and grow and develop a team around me. Getting that first opportunity, testifying and doing a good job was critical to my success.”
"Getting that first opportunity, testifying and doing a good job was critical to my success”
Initially Kathryn worked on audit negligence cases (as that was her background) including some very large, high profile claims. “This involved assessing whether an audit firm had breached its duty of care as well as assessing any resulting loss. The calculation of losses arising is also necessary in many other types of dispute such as breaches of contracts, insurance claims, and compulsory purchase orders for land – like those I worked on in connection with preparations for the 2012 Summer Olympics.”
Challenges – good and bad
For Kathryn, the best parts of being an expert witness are the intellectual challenge, the satisfaction of helping the court reach the right decision, and the teamwork. “In my early days as an expert witness, every case I worked on was in the High Court. Over the years, and with the increase of international trade, more and more disputes have been resolved through arbitration,” she says. When her work started to move from litigation to arbitration, she completed some training at Ciarb. “I enjoyed understanding how the arbitral process works and how decisions get made. Following on from the Woolf Reforms, I did the same thing with mediation – which was becoming increasingly popular at the time.”
Since then, she has mediated a few disputes as well. “It’s so rewarding to help parties put a dispute behind them and get on with their lives. Having gone through a short process such as mediation and resolved things fairly quickly, or through a long, drawn out court case – there’s a real satisfaction in helping parties to move on.”
In recent years Kathryn’s work has focused on cases where she has been an accounting or a quantum expert. “We have a team of people with similar qualifications to my own to help go through and assimilate the evidence that is going to form the basis of the expert opinion, to help draft the report, and to liaise with the lawyers. Generally, they all aspire to become experts in their own right. It’s rewarding watching them work, learn, and then be able to produce their own reports – and go on to testify.”
To support her colleagues in the challenge to get on the next rung of the ladder, Kathryn has given her team members opportunities to develop their skills and gain visibility. “For someone who is an expert in their field but has yet to sign a report or testify, the biggest challenge is how to get appointed as an expert witness for the first time. A great way to support the next generation of expert witnesses is co-authoring. This involves sharing the issues that we’re looking at and signing a joint report with them,” she explains. “I was lucky enough to have a trusted expert put me forward. This kind of support is invaluable. If a lawyer asks for an expert, we can see if there’s a capable member of the team who has the right skills and experience and who would benefit from the opportunity. Then we can give them as much – or as little – support as is needed throughout the process.”
Deadlines are often a challenge: expert witnesses may be required to work to tight ones. “There’s always a risk that we’ll get provided with new evidence or new information quite late on. We have to put a great deal of work into the final quality control of our reports – they have to be robust and stand up to cross-examination. If we have to put in new information at the last minute – that can be really challenging and exhausting for the team!"
The challenge that every expert mentions is testifying itself. However this is one where the expert can mitigate the pressures. “It’s within our control to know everything we need to know. We’re deeply involved in the case, even if we have a team working with us – we rely on them to gather information and to help us put it together, but we still have to know the issues inside out. Testifying is challenging, but it’s the culmination of all the work we’ve done. I always liken it to an exam; if you’ve prepared properly, once you get into your stride, it’s fine. Of course, you can get situations where the opposing counsel can make it difficult but, increasingly, both judges and arbitrators don’t like to see that happen. They want the expert witness to be able to provide them with an objective opinion to help them reach their decision.”
The evolution of expert witness work
Things have changed within the expert witness practice over the last twenty-five years notes Kathryn.
“When I started doing expert witness work, it was normal to be brought in at the last minute and for clients to hope you would agree with their claim or defence. That’s definitely improved – clients have realised bringing in experts at an early stage is beneficial for them. They can learn the expert’s opinion, manage expectations and discuss issues. The expert can remain completely objective at the same time as providing useful views to aid the planning and running of the legal case. However, there will always be timetables.”
Kathryn says that being an expert witness can be a wonderful career for both men and women, but like any other area of business, people often make assumptions, and they can be biased without realising
The timetables have been useful for Kathryn. “Even though there are pressure points, you know when they’re going to be. I found it worked well for me, particularly as a working mother while my children were small, because it meant I could make arrangements in advance. If you like order, structure, and plans – then a timetable is good. Balancing professional commitments with personal responsibilities is a challenge that many face. In the context of expert witness work, imposed timetables can be particularly beneficial. They provide structure and predictability, allowing expert witnesses to manage their time effectively and meet deadlines."
Kathryn says that being an expert witness can be a wonderful career for both men and women, but like any other area of business, people often make assumptions, and they can be biased without realising. "For example – assumptions that a woman won’t be able to manage the timetable or won't want to travel for work are often unfounded. Opportunities should always be available for everyone."
She doesn’t believe a lack of confidence is holding female expert witnesses back. “Arbitrators and judges who have experience of female experts testifying have said to me how well they carried out the role and how authoritative and helpful they were. It’s easy for people to think a woman won’t have the confidence or the authority – that happens across all industries. However, women do have the confidence and the competence to do the job. The ERE 2024 survey illustrates not only their success but also the extent of female aspirations. Clients and their lawyers are taking note and opportunities are increasing, albeit too slowly. I take comfort from the belief that, as we have more and more female expert witnesses, it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and the ERE Pledge will become redundant. Then I will feel we have succeeded!"
“Getting that first expert appointment is very difficult and often involves recommendations from experienced testifying experts”
We speak to Erin McHugh, Partner at AlixPartners in London about the obstacles expert witnesses face, and why mentorship is so important.
After graduating from university with a degree in Economics, Erin McHugh was excited to find out about the field of economic consulting. “I could put what I had learned into practice solving real-world problems,” she says.
Early in her career, her role was largely focused on collecting and analysing data, and formatting charts and tables for expert reports. As her career progressed, she took a larger role in supporting testifying experts by assisting in drafting expert reports, managing teams of more junior consultants, and communicating with clients.
“I enjoy the intellectual challenge of developing defensible analyses, designing effective demonstratives to illustrate their results, and communicating those results in a way that will be clear and understandable. I also enjoy the variety – every matter is different, and I am always learning new things!”
Erin took a career break to complete an MBA degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sloan School of Management. After returning to economic consulting, she says, “I discussed my goal to become an expert witness with my direct supervisor, an experienced testifying expert, and he was very supportive.”
When the right opportunity arose, he put her forward to a client that had initially contacted him, strongly recommending that they engage Erin as the expert. As she stepped up into the role of expert witness, she was given a lot of support. “My direct supervisor and others in the firm provided me with lots of encouragement and excellent advice during that first expert engagement.”
Disputes
As an economist, Erin applies the tools of financial economics to assist clients in financial markets disputes and investigations. “Many of my engagements involve analysing economic and financial data to evaluate trading strategies, value financial products, and estimate alleged damages, for example. I work on both arbitration and litigation matters, as well as on internal and regulatory investigations,” she says.
She notes that the main obstacle all aspiring experts face is that clients want experts who have testified many times before.
“The fact is that most of those experts are men. Getting that first expert appointment is very difficult and often involves recommendations from experienced testifying experts within the expert witness firm, as was the case for me,” she explains. There may also be additional challenges aspiring female expert witnesses face, including unconscious bias, she says, which make it harder for them than aspiring male expert witnesses.
However, there are solutions to the problems they’re facing. “Mentorship and sponsorship within the expert witness firms is critically important. For example, if an experienced testifying expert co-authors a report with an aspiring expert, this is a great way for the aspiring expert to build a track record of expert appointments,” she says.
Another option is requiring short-lists with specific parameters. “If parties and their external counsel required gender-diverse shortlists when selecting expert witnesses, I expect that this would also accelerate the diversity of the expert witness pool.”
“I look at a reaction on a bench top and then how it would perform on an industrial scale”
We speak to chemical engineer Meredith Sellers PhD about her work as an expert witness.
The move into disputes
After chemical engineer Meredith Sellers completed her PhD in 2011, she started working at consulting firm Exponent to apply her skills to “real-life problems”. Within a few years, she was drawn to the disputes work at the organisation, and she moved to doing the background work in support of colleagues who were testifying. Over time, that evolved into having her own expert appointments. “I found it more challenging and impactful. At the moment, 75 per cent of my work revolves around expert witness and disputes work – although it varies based on the year,” she explains.
What she enjoys the most about expert witness work is working with talented people. “There are engineers who are fascinated by numbers, who want to work independently in the lab - I was never one of them. I always enjoyed the people aspect of my work. In the morning, I could be speaking to an attorney in Europe who has their own amazing breadth of knowledge but doesn't necessarily understand the processes occurring in a refinery. In the afternoon I could be speaking with a medical device manufacturer.”
"Once the tribunal has understood what happened, then you can communicate why it happened.”
For Meredith, trying to adapt how expert witnesses explain things to different audiences is a key challenge. “You have to ensure that a tribunal (or the jury in a jury trial) understands the point you're trying to communicate,” she says. “Of course, explaining complex information in a way that's accessible to people can be difficult at times. We try and come up with analogies, something that's more accessible so that people understand what we're talking about.”
Expert witnesses will often try and compare complicated technical processes or pieces of equipment to those in a car as many people are familiar with how their own vehicle works. “We frequently use analogies, because otherwise the types of processes or equipment that we are talking about would just be impenetrable. Once the tribunal has understood what happened, then you can communicate why it happened.”
Chemical reactions
“Most of my work is at the intersection of a material and how it performs in conjunction with a process. In a refinery, for instance, I might be called in after a loss of containment incident or an explosion. I try to understand the temperature or pressure conditions, the composition of the process fluid, and then in turn if those conditions would have been compatible with the materials of service. I look at the inspection regime a company might have had to monitor for damage mechanisms like corrosion.”
Her work consists of understanding the chemical reactions and how they behave when they're scaled up. “That’s the practice of chemical engineering - the scale up. I look at a reaction on a bench top and then how it would perform on an industrial scale.”
She also does process safety work. “There's either physical damage to a facility or often there's associated injuries, including loss of life. In those cases, I’m trying to understand how it happened.”
While Meredith works across many sectors, including oil and gas, her expertise is not limited to one industry. “The most recent instance in which I testified was regarding a medical device sterilisation facility - a different type of industrial facility than an oil refinery, but one that has similar types of processes. I've worked on polymer manufacturing facilities before as well.” She’s travelled all over the world for projects from liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities in Africa to refineries in Malaysia. “Getting to interact with the subject matter experts at the facilities, and understand their perspective on what happened, why it happened, and collecting data and documents – it’s so interesting.”
Looking at it from both sides
Meredith explains that when it comes to supporting more women into testifying as an expert witness, there are two sides to the equation: what your own firm is doing to support and contribute to female colleagues’ development, and what the client wants and needs.
“At Exponent, when junior staff indicate that they're interested in the litigation support, they get pulled in to help with document review and drafting portions of reports. In my case, I had a supportive mentor and supervisor. If there was a situation or an inquiry in which they could propose that I be the testifier for a portion of the dispute, or if there was an aspect of the inquiry that the client hadn't realised would need chemical engineering assistance, my supervisor put me forward.”
She explains that the male to female ratio in engineering depends upon the discipline. “At the undergraduate level, chemical engineering is about 50/50, but that’s not the case for electrical engineering or mechanical engineering. Then there are drop-offs. Our firm predominantly hires individuals with PhD degrees, and so then once the pool is narrowed to engineers graduating with PhDs, and then further narrowed to those that are interested in some of the work life balance challenges that come with expert witness work… the pool is narrowed quite a bit.”
[Meredith] thinks that sometimes people struggle to reconcile looking at a relatively young woman on the expert stand with the impressive CV that shows decades of experience of training
Meredith believes that everyone trying to break into the expert witness space faces challenges. “I don't think that the obstacles junior female colleagues face are entirely different than those junior male colleagues face. Clients want expert witnesses with experience, and no one wants to be the person who tests a brand-new expert in their high stakes dispute,” she notes. “I do think that women face that additional burden in many cases of convincing people of their credentials.” Meredith notes that imposter phenomenon plays a part. “While they do have the necessary background and training, they may not have the self-confidence to realise that they are ready to be a testifier. In my experience, I don’t find that same reluctance with junior male colleagues.”
She thinks that sometimes people struggle to reconcile looking at a relatively young woman on the expert stand with the impressive CV that shows decades of experience of training. She recounts a recent visit to a Society of Women Engineers event at a university where she was asked if she were a student. “I found that very telling about the challenges that many of us face in the professional setting. We would love for people to accept and appreciate our credentials at face value,” she says.
Work/life balance
“All workplaces these days have their intense periods. You could argue that arbitration is somewhat predictable as to when it will be intense. If an expert report due in two weeks, then it’s likely you will be working weekends and nights,” points out Meredith.
However, engineering expert witnesses often have to visit facilities all around the world to do their job. “There can be quite a lot of (last minute) travel, especially if an incident happened suddenly and an investigation needs to take place before the evidence gets compromised or before the facility restarts.”
There can be significant work involved, she explains. “Sometimes we have to perform testing, or undertake an entire laboratory campaign if, for example, a section of piping has ruptured and we need to physically cut out the pipe, look at it on a microscope, and cross-section it.”
Meredith notes that while she has a very supportive partner, her organisation often hires people in their late 20s, which is when women are starting to think about having a family. “I was concerned about how that would work, especially when you think about the timelines of these large disputes. It's not unusual for them to be two to three years in length. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was involved in an arbitration in a support capacity for around a year at that point. I was very nervous about telling my client that I was pregnant. It’s less of an issue in the US, because we only take eight weeks off, but it’s a huge struggle. I was slated to testify two weeks after I gave birth. Young women are trying to juggle all these timelines in their personal life and work life. No one wants to say, ‘I can't take on this opportunity because I have this conflict with giving birth!’ It's hard to figure out how to make all the parts fit together.”
She notes that during the pandemic, arbitrations switched to virtual hearings, but almost all the arbitrations she’s taken part in since then have been in-person, as have client meetings and all the prep work. “Due to the complexity of many of these disputes, there are elements of the proceedings that are best done in-person. We didn't see that switch to virtual meetings that have persisted in some industries,” she says.
Developing the next generation
“There needs to be more thought and intention put into both helping develop individuals who want to take on expert roles. I think clients need to be accommodating of alternative models.” Meredith says that one example of how a newer expert could become involved is asking, ‘Is there a way to split off a portion of this testimony?’ She explains further, “A great solution is to keep the standard-of-care and industry best practice role with the person who has the additional industry experience, and then peel off the physical laboratory evaluation to a more junior colleague, who can take the lead on that. This approach doesn't impact the overall budget, which I think is also, and reasonably so, a concern for the client.”
Meredith and her team have taken this approach twice in the last year. “We split off sections for more junior colleagues both in a US domestic and an international arbitration and it worked very well. It worked seamlessly and the clients were pleased with the outcome.” She says her firm is trying to distribute opportunities more fairly. “We've been revamping the way in which client inquiries are distributed and we've also been trying to be more intentional about business development opportunities. If we're sending a team to Paris Arbitration Week or Riyadh International Disputes Week, we think about who we’re sending and why. We also encourage people not to get frustrated or disenchanted when it does take time and effort to transition from that support role to the testifier role.”
She suggests clients ask for more diverse lists of experts to choose from. “When you ask for suggestions and get a list back of five experts that all look the same, that should trigger decision-makers to ask questions. For example, have I appreciated all the options that might be available?”
“If no one invests in the next generation, there’s not going to be any experts in the future”
We speak to Faye Allen about transitioning from a quantity surveyor to a quantum expert, and how expert witness assistants need to be given more opportunities.
Chartered Surveyor and RICS Fellow Faye Allen spent the first 20 years of her career as a quantity surveyor working for different contractors, subcontractors and consultants on a number of large-scale project. After a postgraduate diploma in law, she had an interest in the legal and dispute side of construction, so when she was headhunted by EC Harris to join their dispute team in 2014, she jumped at the opportunity. “Even though I hadn't testified before, they were predominantly looking for someone with the experience,” she explains.
In construction disputes clients want expert witnesses who know what happens onsite. As Faye is a quantum expert, she understands the commercial aspect of the industry well. “I understood about prolongation claims, delays that you can get on projects and how that would affect financials, not just for the contractor, but also for the supply chain meaning there are often additional claims from subcontractors also affected by the relevant issues causing delay. Then there's the issue of defective works: a lot of the projects I have done over the last couple of years have been in respect of cladding defects jobs post-Grenfell.”
After joining she received expert training, where she learned how to write CPR35 compliant reports and was provided ‘into court’ training in how to robustly answer questions on her reports in a court scenario when lawyers will often try to ruffle an expert's feathers. She worked on a few reports with experienced expert witnesses after which EC Harris felt she was ready to fly solo. For the last 10 years she’s worked predominantly as the sole expert witness on a variety of cases.
She was more nervous about whether she could be an expert witness than her new company, because it was new to her but, after a few cases, she easily found her stride. “I was fortunate that it wasn't difficult for me to get my first appointment because once EC Harris checked that I wasn't going to be a liability, and they could see I knew what I was doing, they left me to it. Clients see that I know what I’m doing, so they come back to me and give me more cases. The difficulty for me has been getting the bigger jobs - I could get smaller ones relatively easily.”
She explains that she’s always the expert due to her experience, and never the assistant – who often have more visibility and are given more networking opportunities. “If you're working as an assistant, you often get introduced to lawyers, clients and tribunals with the main expert in meetings etc throughout the case. When you come to dispute work a little bit later like I did, you don't always get those opportunities to meet people on the bigger disputes as you aren’t assisting the main expert. It took me nearly 10 years to get my first big job due to that barrier. It's been easy to get smaller jobs, but to get the international arbitration work – that's a little trickier when you haven't worked as an assistant.”
"It's been easy to get smaller jobs, but to get the international arbitration work – that's a little trickier when you haven't worked as an assistant”
Faye finds that arbitration, adjudication and litigation use the same skills, but the timeframes are different – adjudication has tighter deadlines. “I wanted to get into arbitration as adjudication can be ‘quick and dirty’. When I did my dissertation on adjudication years ago, I called it ‘rough justice’ and I haven’t changed my view. Whereas in arbitration, there's more time available, and that has its advantages. However, I love doing adjudications as they keep you on your toes! I've got lots of litigations in the pipeline as well and, again, you get a little bit more time with those too. Depending on the forum you’re in, you get different experiences.”
She loves the variety that expert witnesses come across. “Every job is different, and that’s what I love about it. When I was working onsite, I got to the point where it was always similar to something I’d done before as a surveyor: you're going to set up all your contracts and you're going to monitor everything, do the valuations and price variations etc. I needed a change. In the dispute world, it's always different.”
Faye explains that the size of her team depends on the job. If it’s a big job, she might have two or more assistants, but if it’s a smaller dispute, she will often work on the case alone. “The assistants might help me at the beginning to set the report up, for example, and then I'll do all the nitty gritty parts or I might give them specific tasks to do to help me. It depends on the job that I've got, and if I’m doing multiple jobs, I might need more help. It will depend on the timetable as well.”
Photo by Nathan Waters on Unsplash
Photo by Nathan Waters on Unsplash
The next generation
One aspect of expert witness work that’s difficult is getting the experience of giving evidence. On a case she’s currently working on, Faye is working with an assistant, and wants her assistant to have the opportunity to give evidence on the part of the report that she's been heavily involved in.
“Often the main expert wants to testify, but if you've had people helping you, there’s the opportunity in that scenario to say, “This part of the report has been done by this person and so I'd like them to give evidence”. However, we know from the ERE surveys and discussions that it can be quite difficult to get clients and counsel to agree to this.”
In arbitration, as it's private, there may be more opportunities for people to support their assistants than in litigation. Faye has spoken to a few lawyers who feel the same way as her. “If someone's assisted and they know that part of the report inside out, why shouldn't they be given the opportunity to testify on it if they want to? This gives them experience and enables them to have confidence moving forward.”
She points out that the industry is never going to have anyone progress to become an expert witness if they’re not given these opportunities. "If no one invests in the next generation, there won’t be any experts in the future who have the necessary experience."
Faye says that if assistants aren’t given the opportunities to grow, they end up leaving. In order to encourage the pipeline of aspiring expert witnesses, ERE provides events for both lawyers and experts.
“We bring together the experts and lawyers and give them the opportunities to meet and network. Lawyers can then see the next generation coming up, but I still believe the current experts have to work to sponsor their assistants and allow them those opportunities to gain the relevant experience. Otherwise, we're just going to end up with a massive problem where we've got a number of experts who've retired and then not enough new experts with the right experience coming in.”
"If no one invests in the next generation, there won’t be any experts in the future who have the necessary experience"
Faye’s advice to aspiring expert witnesses is to remember your experience, and don’t wade into areas you’re not an expert in.
“It can be quite scary testifying. You have to ensure you know your report inside out and remember to address the tribunal. You must remember that your duty is always to them, and I think sometimes people don't always remember that. You have to remain independent. We’re all human, but don’t rush in and be defensive.”
The gender gap
It’s hard to say how much the lack of female expert witnesses is down to the industry they’re testifying about – but it does play a part. Construction, for example, is predominately male. Faye has written a book that talks about the issues that women in construction experience called Building Women - How everyone in construction can win.
“I've been following the ONS stats for a number of years, and there’s never more than around 15.8% of women in construction. The industry isn't built for women, and you have to be pretty tough to stay in it. That's part of the work that we all need to do because we're not going to have any experts in the future, particularly female experts, if we don't start making it much more inclusive for women. I'm trying to encourage people to look at the culture in the industry and work to improve it for everyone,” she explains.
According to recent statistics by the RICS, there is a concerning number of women leaving construction between the ages of 41 and 46. Female surveyors generally have 16 years’ worth of Chartered membership at the RICS, whereas men have 28 years’ worth.
Faye explains, “The data shows a huge number of women leaving the construction industry and, interestingly, it's not necessarily when they have children. It's actually when they’re in their 40s. From the women that I've spoken to while researching my book and from my own experience, it's because the industry can be difficult when you're a woman. It can be exhausting. For me, it's about how we make the culture better so that women want to come in and then, more importantly, want to stay in. Otherwise, we’re never going to fix the leaky pipeline.”
"The data shows a huge number of women leaving the construction industry and, interestingly, it's not necessarily when they have children"
Faye Allen
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