Dana UK AXLE Ltd v Freudenberg FST GmbH

Dana UK AXLE Ltd v Freudenberg FST GmbH

The defendant, Freudenberg FST GmbH, committed serious and repeated breaches of the PTR Order and CPR Part 35 by failing to provide full details of all materials and instructions given to its experts, allowing unsupervised and unrecorded communications between its personnel and experts, failing to disclose documents...

Source-derived case information.

Parties
Claimant: Dana UK Axle Ltd; Defendant: Freudenberg FST GmbH
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
26 May 2021
Procedural Posture
Civil Commercial/technology and Construction / Interlocutory Application During Trial (application to Exclude Expert Evidence)
Outcome
Application granted; defendant's technical expert evidence excluded.
Legal Topics
Expert Evidence Exclusion, Breach of Court Orders, Civil Procedure Rules Compliance, Independence of Experts, Disclosure Obligations
Civil Procedure Evidence Expert Evidence Expert Evidence Exclusion Breach of Court Orders Civil Procedure Rules Compliance Independence of Experts Disclosure Obligations

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Summary, issues, holding and outcome

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Parties

Dana UK Axle Ltd

Claimant

Freudenberg FST GmbH

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Civil Commercial/technology and Construction / Interlocutory Application During Trial (application to Exclude Expert Evidence)

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether the defendant's technical expert evidence should be excluded for breach of the Pre-Trial Review (PTR) Order and CPR Part 35 requirements
  2. 2 Whether the defendant's experts and solicitors failed to ensure transparency and equality of arms in the provision of information and instructions to experts
  3. 3 Whether the conduct of the defendant's experts undermined their independence and the integrity of their reports

Ratio Decidendi

The defendant, Freudenberg FST GmbH, committed serious and repeated breaches of the PTR Order and CPR Part 35 by failing to provide full details of all materials and instructions given to its experts, allowing unsupervised and unrecorded communications between its personnel and experts, failing to disclose documents and information from site visits, and not ensuring that the claimant's experts had access to the same information. These breaches undermined the independence and transparency of the expert evidence, destroyed the level playing field, and put the fair administration of justice at risk. The court cannot condone such conduct and, as a result, excludes all of the defendant's...

Court Disposition

Application granted; defendant's technical expert evidence excluded.

Orders

  • Freudenberg FST GmbH is not permitted to rely on its technical expert reports at trial.
  • The trial timetable continues as agreed.