The appointment of experts where families experience a complex range of vulnerabilities: a qualitative study of the use of expert and evidence-based contributions within the English family courts

Holt’s qualitative study explores the personal narratives of a range of experts who routinely provide evidence in family law proceedings. This study provides academics and practitioners internationally with an important lens on the experiences of experts who are regularly instructed to assist the court when important factual determinations and welfare decisions are being made in respect of children the study highlights the complex range of vulnerabilities facing families when they turn to a system in crisis, and the challenge for experts who are tasked with navigating these complexities. In this study Holt found that expert witnesses, when appropriately instructed and properly governed by the legal framework of England and Wales, remain crucially important where important and life changing outcomes for children are being decided.