Instructing us, without the false starts.

Privilege first

Where proceedings are on foot or reasonably contemplated, preliminary advice and working papers can be structured to attract litigation privilege. Raise it in the first call and we will work within the framework you set: instruction through your firm, reporting lines you control, and drafts handled accordingly. We are equally comfortable in the shadow-expert role, advising counsel without filing anything.

What to tell us at the outset

• The data sources in play: devices, mailboxes, tenancies, drives, and who holds them now.
• Your client's authority over each source, or where authority is unclear.
• Key dates: the events, when suspicion arose, and any limitation or court deadlines.
• The question the evidence must answer, as precisely as the matter allows.
• Whether preservation has happened, and crucially, whether anyone has already looked.

What to avoid before we speak

Do not let the client's IT team examine the device, reset accounts, or export the mailbox informally. Well-intentioned internal inspection is the most common source of avoidable damage to the record, and it hands opposing counsel a cross-examination theme. Isolate, and call.

Timelines and fees

Preservation moves in hours; imaging typically completes within a day of access. Focused single-device analysis usually reports in one to two weeks; expert reports for proceedings run to the tribunal's timetable. Fees are estimated in writing after a scoping discussion and never charged on outcome, because expert evidence contingent on success is worth nothing to anyone.

What you receive

Findings in plain English with referenced exhibits, drafted so a tribunal can follow the reasoning unaided. Where instructed as expert, reports comply with Order 38 and the Code of Conduct for Expert Witnesses, adverse findings included, with the declaration signed and meant. Conclaves, joint statements and oral evidence follow the same rule: the opinion belongs to the evidence, not the retainer.