The court indicated that elements of a counterclaim in negligence would not readily have been proved without expert evidence. However, an application to strike out the claim for a lack of expert evidence was seen as a heavy-handed and costly approach, and the claimant could have raised the issue at a case management conference.
Whilst most professional negligence claims will ultimately require expert evidence, the case of ACD indicates that a pragmatic and proportionate approach should be taken, at least to the stage at which the evidence is obtained.
The recent case of ACD (Landscape Architects) Ltd v Overall considered issues of professional negligence and whether expert evidence is essential.