Check an NSW expert report against the code and the AI practice note
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the final expert report, extract the stated assumptions, qualifications, sources, code acknowledgement and any generative AI disclosure into a review table. Do not rewrite the opinion.
- What the lawyer must review
- A court report needs the Schedule 7 acknowledgement and the leave rule in Practice Note SC Gen 23
- A Commission report needs the disclosure rule in Procedural Direction PIC13
- Ask the expert to fix gaps. The opinion stays the expert's
- Draw the applicable AI direction to the expert in the letter of instruction
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. NSW Supreme Court or District Court, or the Personal Injury Commission
Produce. A review table of assumptions, qualifications, sources, code acknowledgement and AI disclosure.
Have ready. The final expert report; The letter of instruction; The forum the lawyer names.
Example of the limit. Illustrative example: A court report states an impairment percentage and does not say whether generative AI was used. The table marks the missing disclosure and the missing leave. It does not change the percentage.
Stop and hand it back when
- The forum is not known, so the court leave rule and the Commission disclosure rule cannot be told apart.
- The report on file is a draft the expert has not adopted.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-10-23.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | From the final expert report, extract the stated assumptions, qualifications, sources, code acknowledgement and any generative AI disclosure into a review table. Do not rewrite the opinion. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- For a court report, check the Schedule 7 contents: qualifications, the code acknowledgement, assumptions, reasons, and the declaration that the required inquiries were made.
- Practice Note SC Gen 23 says generative AI must not be used to draft an expert report for the court without prior leave, and paragraphs 21 to 22 set out what leave and disclosure require.
- Paragraph 23 of that practice note has a further leave step for a professional negligence report under rule 31.36 and for a report in a pre-filing statement under section 315 of the 1998 Act.
- For the Commission, Procedural Direction PIC13 says generative AI must not be used to draft an expert report unless that use is disclosed, and the instructing lawyer must draw PIC13 and PIC4 to the expert.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letter of instruction to an orthopaedic surgeon | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an orthopaedic surgeon for diagnosis, causation, capacity and prognosis in a plaintiff claim, with the expert code and artificial intelligence rule for Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales. |
| Letter of instruction to a psychiatrist | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a psychiatrist for diagnosis, causation, treatment and capacity in a plaintiff claim, and for a clinical view on recognised psychiatric illness, without asking for the legal test. |
| Letter of instruction to an occupational therapist on care | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an occupational therapist to record care hours, duration, paid and gratuitous help, aids and equipment, without applying a damages threshold or valuing the claim. |
| Letter of instruction to a forensic accountant | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a forensic accountant to calculate past and future loss of earning capacity on stated assumptions, with the discount rate, percentage and superannuation rate left for the lawyer. |
| Letter of instruction to an engineer | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an engineer for the condition, the mechanism and the available precautions in a plaintiff claim, with the precautions section named by the lawyer and no conclusion on negligence. |
| Psychiatrist's instructions on a recognised psychiatric illness | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a psychiatrist whether there is a recognised psychiatric illness for a mental harm claim, without asking the psychiatrist to apply the statutory tests. |
| Letter of instruction to a vocational assessor | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a vocational assessor for realistic occupations, hours and sourced earnings, without a diagnosis, an impairment score or a valuation. |
| Questions for a treating doctor | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking a treating doctor for the dates, recorded diagnosis, treatment and certificates, with a separate opinion section that is sent only if the expert code is enclosed. |
| Agenda for a conference of experts | Letter | AI use Yellow | Note to experts after a direction to confer, setting the arrangements and the issues, and stating the joint-report rule in Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales. |
| Letter of instruction to an actuary on future loss | Letter | AI use Yellow | Letter asking an actuary to value future earnings and future treatment streams on the lawyer's assumptions, with the rate, percentage and life table left blank. |
| Supplementary questions after an expert report | Letter | AI use Yellow | Short letter sending further documents and asking whether the expert's opinion on a material matter has changed, with the supplementary-report duty for each state. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.
Sources
- Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Schedule 7 · 2026-10-23
- Supreme Court of NSW: Practice Note SC Gen 23 · 2026-10-23
- Personal Injury Commission: Procedural Direction PIC13 · 2026-10-23
The court rule requires prior leave. The Commission rule, as opened, requires disclosure. Do not apply one forum's rule to the other.
The report may quote health information. Keep it in a firm-controlled tool. Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules rule 9 and Australian Privacy Principle 11 apply, and a breach may be notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).