Be a good expert: Tell the truth

Author's Biography

Paul Beckett is a Director and Co-founder of Phlorum, a multidisciplinary environmental consultancy serving a range of professionals in the land use planning and construction sectors. He has been working as an environmental consultant since the early 2000s. This was where he first gained experience in expert witness work, providing proofs of evidence and being cross-examined during public inquiries for large development proposals. It was during the 2010s, however, that the balance of his expert witness work shifted towards civil litigation in the courts. This has particularly been due to his involvement in a landmark ruling and subsequent appeal decision that caused an avalanche of private nuisance and damages claims related to the impact on property of the pernicious alien invader, Japanese knotweed. He has since gained significant experience of the litigation process, seeing at first hand how settlements and judgments feed a growing appetite for claims, with almost anyone involved in surveying, owning and/or managing property finding themselves in the crosshairs. He continues to work for claimants and defendants on Japanese knotweed cases, and also where air quality, odour and dust cause nuisance or health impacts.