Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/392122
44 in addition to the Court Rules and protocol, your report should also comply with any professional code of conduct to which you are subject all documents and information given to you should be treated confidentially. As a practical point, acting as expert witness can be profitable. You should agree your remuneration and terms of your engagement with your instructing solicitor at the outset to avoid any later disputes. Finally, appearing in Court as an expert witness and facing cross-examination can be forbidding. Training is available for expert witnesses which includes "mock cross-examinations". It is worthwhile investing in the training to ensure you are as prepared as possible for the experience! Due Diligence Work In this specialised form of consulting service, a researcher is engaged to provide advice in the course of a significant financial investment, typically where an investor (such as a venture capital firm) is looking to make an investment in an early-stage business or where a large company is considering buying a smaller one. Frequently the purpose of the consultancy is to understand better the novelty or viability of the proposed investee's technology. There will also be other reports, probably including legal and financial ones. There are particular challenges and risks in undertaking due diligence work, which are discussed here. Identify your client It is important, and sometimes surprisingly difficult, to know who your client is. Generally there are two other parties involved – the prospective financier (often a venture capital firm, or 'VC') and the company in which they may invest ('the Company'). The VC will quite often ask you to undertake this work, on the basis that you will report to the VC and that the Company will pay for the work after the investment has taken place. This is unsatisfactory for many reasons: they will not pay you for some time (because investment can be a slow process to complete) the VC may not have the authority to commit the Company to pay you most importantly, what happens if the investment does not take place? Managing Risk Section 6