The role of the party-appointed expert before, during and after the examination, in civil, employment and criminal cases, and what to do when the expert report is weak.
The judge is not bound by the expert report, but needs reasons to depart from it, taking the expert's method into account (CPC, the Brazilian Code of Civil Procedure, art. 479). Those reasons rarely come from the lawyer's petition, since the lawyer is an interested party. They come from the party-appointed expert, who is chosen by and trusted by the party (CPC, art. 466, § 1º).
Each stage of the examination opens a window that does not reopen, and in employment and criminal cases the windows move. There is also the report by an expert without the training for the examination, or with the analysis done by third parties.
Adriano Vallim, Forensic Expert and Digital Crime Specialist, shows when to hire one, what to request at each stage and how to recognise a weak report. Expert questions are covered in the Expert questions workshop (course 03).
Pick as many courses as you like: they are kept and arrive ticked on the registration form.
The official report in a case where technical evidence was decisive was prepared by an expert not qualified for that examination. The technical opinion pointed out the errors one by one and showed the court what the evidence demonstrated.
A company was accused of sharing personal data through its website. The technical opinion showed that there had been no violation, and the case was closed without a court-ordered examination.
In the defence of a company billed for licences, an on-site inspection and a forensic image supported the position that no amount was owed.
Before accepting the case, the expert read the entire police investigation file. The examination showed that the person accused of a serious crime had no connection with the facts.
The court-appointed expert outsources the reading of a system's logs, and the report ignores the fact that the server records in UTC. Once the timeline is rebuilt, the failure begins after a change made by the client itself.
In groups of three, participants receive the progress of a fictitious civil case, with the dates of the appointment, the examination procedure, the report and the hearing. In 15 minutes, they mark the open and closed windows, the party-appointed expert's three steps on that day and what to ask of them. Those who finish early redo the exercise under employment and criminal procedure.
Laws and rulings discussed
CPC, arts. 472 to 480 · CPC, arts. 472 to 480 · CPP, arts. 14, 159 and 181 (Brazilian Code of Criminal Procedure) · Law 5,584/1970, art. 3º (labour procedure) · CLT, art. 769 (Brazilian Labour Code) · TST, Súmula 341 (Brazilian Superior Labour Court)
See also
Judicial and Extrajudicial Expert Work → Forensic Services in Litigation and Arbitration → For Lawyers → Expert Reports and Opinions → See all courses →