Expert Determination by John Kendall

Abstract

If an expert, in the celebrated phrase of a former president of Columbia University, is someone ‘who knows more and more about less and less’, then we are all experts now. The medical profession, of course, has long had its specializations, some more esoteric than others. The major firms of lawyers and accountants now have their specialist departments – experts in mergers and acquisitions, debt financing, intellectual property, tax planning, forensic accounting and so on – who guard their mysteries and tend their own particular sacred flame. Nor is this development confined to the professions: even the better class of supermarkets has its specialist sectors, its delicatessens, bakeries, and cheese counters. It should come as no surprise then if the peaceful resolution of disputes, which used to be the work of judges and arbitrators, is now becoming separated into a series of different, specialized procedures, ranging from mediation and conciliation at one end of the spectrum to full scale litigation at the other. In his new edition of this excellent book, John Kendall sets out to show how the decision of an expert may be of crucial importance, both in avoiding disputes before they arise and in resolving disputes once they have arisen.