Expert Witness Services

We offer a service in the preparation of Expert Witness reports both for civil and criminal cases to be heard in courts of law and for those reports required to be presented as part of the documentation submitted in support of commercial or drug-licensing applications.

Reports are prepared according to Expert Witness Guidelines and following the recommendations of the Expert Witness Institute and of the Law Society
Reports completed to agreed deadlines and to an agreed fee schedule
Expert Witness reports prepared for both Civil and Criminal Cases and for Plaintiff or Defendant and Prosecution or Defence
Legal Aid work carried out

Professor N.J.Birch has a long and substantial research record in the biomedical sciences with more than 250 publications including six books. He has been trained both in legal report writing and in court appearance and in the role and responsibilities of a Single Joint Expert under CPR. He has written over 140 Expert Reports for Legal cases in the United Kingdom and has appeared in court about thirty times.

Member of the Expert Witness Institute

Listed in the Law Society's Directory of Expert Witnesses

Listed in the UK Register of Expert Witnesses

Areas of special expertise are:

Psychopharmacology: the pharmacology and toxicology of over-the counter, prescribed and proscribed drugs which affect mood and behaviour.
Pharmacokinetics of psychotropic drugs including alcohol and drugs of abuse.
Drug interactions and interactions with other substances.
The use of lithium in medicine, its pharmacology, toxicology, monitoring and clinical use.

Recent cases include:

Personal injury cases involving drug induced toxicity in which there have been allegations of Medical Negligence in the prescription of the drug or in the monitoring of the treatment or in the recognition of the toxicity or in the proper treatment following an episode of toxicity.
The use of a psychotropic drugs in cases of murder and attempted murder, Section 18 and Section 20 assault, rape, indecent assault.
Backtracking of drugs administered to victims or taken by the defendant and evaluation of the forensic toxicology laboratory evidence presented.
The psychotropic effects of prescribed drugs, (benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, antidepressants), over-the-counter drugs and/or drugs of abuse and their relationship to alleged offences.
The interactions between prescribed, over-the-counter and non-prescribed drugs and also the effects of these drugs when taken in various combination and /or with alcohol. Reports have been written on the potential effects of such combinations of such drugs on the behaviour of defendants or the alleged victims in cases of murder, rape, assault, threat to kill, dangerous driving, fraud, shoplifting, burglary and theft.

Please contact:

Professor Nicholas J. Birch

Codsall, Staffordshire, England, WV8 2ER

mailto:n.j.birch@btinternet.com

Telephone / Fax: *-44-(0)1902-844679