Brandiferri v. Wawanesa – Recent Rulings on Expert Witnesses and Rule 53.03

Arising out of a judge-alone trial, Lauwers J. has written two recent decisions regarding the practical application of the recent amendments to rule 53.03 of the Rules of Civil Procedure.

The plaintiff sought to call two expert witnesses whose reports failed to conform to the new requirements in rule 53.03.

In the first Ruling on Evidence, Lauwers J. allowed the witness to testify because the reports where basically in compliance with the previous version of the rule, the facts relied on were clearly expressed and testable, and there was no concern of bias.

In the other Ruling of Evidence, Lauwers J. ruled the witness could not be called as an expert under rule 53.03 because the witness had been involved personally in the case and was not disinterested in the outcome.  The witness was permitted to give evidence as a fact witness.