Lextox: Our Expert Evidence in Court

Did you know that our Expert opinions are used in court?

All results obtained at our UKAS accredited laboratory (No. 7516) are legally defensible for use in court. Through strict Chain of Custody (CoC) and our standard operating procedures, we ensure that checks are put in place at every stage of the process.

At Lextox, we sometimes receive requests for court attendance, to provide oral evidence in relation to the analysis and interpretation of results. These requests can come from an instructing party, a donor or any other parties associated to a particular case and we respond to these requests with an official reply in writing.

Quick Response

Lextox are extremely flexible and fast to respond to any such court requests, even at short notice. Due to the importance of these cases, and to ensure our reports and results are used in the correct way; our Experts are always available, should a request of this nature be made.

Court Appearance Request

Any request to give evidence in court will follow our standard process for hair drug and alcohol testing. Firstly, any samples that are collected from a donor by our trained Sample Collectors are then analysed. The analysis results are then issued to the instructing party as a Certificate of Analysis (CofA) or an Expert Report. It is at this stage that a client or any other parties associated with a case may have questions in relation to the results and a court appearance requested. All cases go to court, but it is only when further information or clarification is requested that we attend court.

Once a request has been made, our Business Services team will liaise and organise our availability for a specific court date and officially confirm with all parties involved of our court attendance at the requested time. As these cases are court approved, all parties have to be in agreement to the associated cost involved in a court attendance request. The costs associated with such a request are set at a standard rate in accordance with the LAA codified rates and section 6 of Expert Witnesses Renumeration Guidance. All associated costs are dependent on the amount of time one of our Experts is required in court. For more information, please contact us on [email protected]

Our Expert Evidence

Our Expert evidence in court is entirely based on questions from the individual parties involved, which can also include the judge. Our evidence provides further information or clarification in relation to the results / interpretation within our Expert Report.

Summary

All of our reporting Experts are court trained, and available to attend court upon request and will provide expert evidence and clarification in relation to results issued within our Expert Reports. In recent years, and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, when giving evidence in court, we do so remotely via video link. The move to virtual court appearances has helped to reduce court costs for all involved.

At Lextox, we provide hair drug and alcohol, blood alcohol and SCRAM Continuous Alcohol testing for family law cases and child care proceedings. To find out more about drug and alcohol testing please call us on 029 2048 4141 or email [email protected]