Single Joint Expert (SJE) Pain Medicine Instructions
Independent, consultant-authored Single Joint Expert reports for chronic pain cases, prepared to CPR Part 35 standard for civil litigation.
A Single Joint Expert is instructed jointly by the parties to provide one report for the court, rather than each side commissioning separate opinions. It’s a procedural choice with real strategic weight – where a single expert’s conclusions are the only specialist evidence before the court, those conclusions can carry decisive influence. Our Pain Management experts accept SJE instructions in chronic pain cases, with the same duty to the court, independence, and evidential discipline that governs every instruction we accept.
What a Single Joint Expert instruction involves
What is a Single Joint Expert?
A Single Joint Expert (SJE) is an expert instructed jointly by two or more parties to a dispute, rather than instructed separately by one side. Under CPR Part 35, the SJE’s overriding duty is to the court, not to whichever party is paying the fee – a duty that applies identically whether an expert is instructed by one party or jointly by all of them.
- One report is produced and shared between the parties, rather than competing reports from each side
- Costs are typically divided between the instructing parties, supporting the proportionality principle in the Civil Procedure Rules
- Case management is often simplified, since there's a single expert opinion before the court rather than disputed methodology between competing experts
- The efficiency gain comes with a genuine trade-off: where the SJE is the only specialist opinion available, there's limited room to test alternative interpretations - which is why SJE suitability is a case-by-case judgement, not a default
Trained for the specific demands of SJE work
Single Joint Expert instructions haven’t always been popular with lawyers since their introduction over 25 years ago, often due to concerns about reduced influence over the outcome.
Our consultants relish the particular challenges an SJE instruction presents: producing a single report robust enough to satisfy both instructing parties, with no second opinion to lean on and no room for the reasoning to be anything less than rigorous. That’s a higher bar, and it’s one our faculty is built for.
That confidence comes from real substance. Our consultants bring the clinical knowledge and expertise chronic pain cases demand, sharpened by focused training delivered by experienced medical colleagues, and by leading claimant and defendant solicitors and barristers. That training is built specifically around what an SJE instruction requires, so the quality of the report doesn’t depend on which side, or both, brought the instruction.
- Conflict checks and agreed scope, confirmed before instruction proceeds
- Diagnosis, causation, and condition & prognosis, addressed with the same evidential rigour as any single-party instruction
- Biopsychosocial evaluation, including the psychological and psychosocial factors relevant to presentation and prognosis
- Functional impact and its bearing on quantum
- Clear, numbered reasoning designed to withstand scrutiny from all instructing parties, not just one
Instruction types
Who instructs a Single Joint Expert:
- Personal Injury and Clinical Negligence - SJE appointments across both case types, where parties agree joint instruction is appropriate
- Instructed jointly by claimant and defendant representatives, or directed by the court where parties cannot agree
- Available across our full pain medicine faculty, subject to conflict checks at the point of instruction
All experts act independently and in accordance with CPR Part 35 and GMC guidance.
Instruct a Single Joint Expert
Considering an SJE but weighing up whether it’s right for your case?
Our chambers team can talk through scope, suitability, and conflict checks before you commit – no pressure either way.
Featured Insights
Single Joint Experts in Civil Litigation: Efficiency, Risk, and Strategic Judgement.
By Dr Richard Sawyer, Consultant in Anaesthetics and Pain Management