---
title: "Letter of instruction to an orthopaedic surgeon"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/letter-instructing-orthopaedic-surgeon"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a21-letter-instructing-orthopaedic-surgeon"
area_id: "A21"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A21-T1-R8", "A21-P20260916-3", "A21-P20260916-4", "A21-B1-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-23"
---

# Letter of instruction to an orthopaedic surgeon

> 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.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/letter-instructing-orthopaedic-surgeon  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-23

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Practice area: [Personal Injury & Compensation](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation.md)
- Jurisdictions: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-23
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-23 against the 19 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

## When to use it

Use when a plaintiff firm instructs an orthopaedic surgeon for a court in Victoria, Queensland or New South Wales, or for the Personal Injury Commission. Do not use it to draft the report, or for an impairment assessment unless the lawyer has named the guidelines.

## Used for these tasks

- [Draft medico-legal instructions and review the draft report](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/draft-medico-legal-instructions-and-review-the-draft-report.md)
- [Check an expert report’s assumptions and AI disclosure](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/check-an-expert-report-s-assumptions-and-ai-disclosure.md)
- [Check a proposed medico-legal referral before booking](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/check-a-proposed-medico-legal-referral-before-booking.md)
- [Instruct a medical expert on PIC Gen AI requirements](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/instruct-a-medical-expert-on-pic-gen-ai-requirements.md)

## How AI may be used

The tool may assemble the letter from the lawyer's questions and the index, and the lawyer checks the forum, the code and every question before it is sent.

**AI may:**

- Assemble the letter from the lawyer's questions, the assumption list and the document index.
- Insert the forum block the lawyer has selected and remove the other forum blocks.
- Check that every enclosed document is named in the index and that page numbers run in one sequence.

**AI must not:**

- Must not suggest, draft or strengthen the expert's opinion, diagnosis, impairment score or conclusion.
- Must not put health, wage or benefit records into a public or consumer tool, or into a tool that may train on them.
- Must not choose the forum's code or artificial intelligence rule from memory. The lawyer confirms the current instrument.
- Must not draft an affidavit, a witness statement or a statutory declaration.

**The lawyer checks:**

- One forum block remains, and the enclosed code matches that forum.
- The questions do not suggest a diagnosis, a cause or an impairment score.
- Guidelines are named, or the impairment question is marked none.
- In a Victorian serious injury application, the two-consultant limit in PNCLD 1-2026 paragraph 23.59 has been counted.
- Records go by the approved secure channel and not into a public tool.

## Authorities

- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) Schedule 7 (expert witness code of conduct), current version from 13 March 2026](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2005-0418#sch.7)
- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 31.23 (code of conduct must be provided, and the acknowledgement)](https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/ucpr2005305/s31.23.html)
- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 31.27 (experts' reports, including generative artificial intelligence)](https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_reg/ucpr2005305/s31.27.html)
- [District Court of NSW General Practice Note 2 (Generative AI Practice Note), commencing 3 February 2025, adopting Supreme Court Practice Note SC Gen 23](https://districtcourt.nsw.gov.au/documents/practice-notes/district-court-pn---general/Gen_AI_Practice_Note.pdf)
- [Personal Injury Commission Procedural Direction PIC4, Expert Witness Evidence](https://www.pi.nsw.gov.au/resources/procedural-directions/procedural-direction-pic4-expert-witness-evidence)
- [Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 (Vic) r 44.01 (the code is Form 44A)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_reg/sccpr2025433/s44.01.html)
- [Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 (Vic) r 44.03 (report of expert)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_reg/sccpr2025433/s44.03.html)
- [Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2025 (Vic), statutory rule 85/2025, version 003 in force from 1 January 2026](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/statutory-rules/supreme-court-general-civil-procedure-rules-2025/003)
- [County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018 (Vic) r 44.01 (the code is Form 44A)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_reg/cccpr2018380/s44.01.html)
- [County Court Civil Procedure Rules 2018 (Vic) r 44.03 (report of expert)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_reg/cccpr2018380/s44.03.html)
- [Supreme Court of Victoria Practice Note SC Gen 25, paragraph 6.12 and footnote 2 (Form 44A), issued 14 May 2026](https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/areas/legal-resources/practice-notes/sc-gen-25-the-use-of-artificial-intelligence-by-court-users)
- [County Court of Victoria Practice Note PNCCV 1-2026, paragraph 5.12, version 1.0 of 5 June 2026](https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/files/documents/2026-06/use-artificial-intelligence-court-users-practice-note.docx)
- [Supreme Court of Victoria Practice Note SC CL 3 Personal Injuries Litigation, commenced 1 July 2026](https://www.supremecourt.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2026-06/SC%20CL%203%20-%20Personal%20Injuries%20Litigation.pdf)
- [County Court of Victoria Common Law Division Practice Note PNCLD 1-2026, version 3.0 of 9 February 2026](https://www.countycourt.vic.gov.au/files/documents/2026-02/common-law-division-practice-note-pncld-feb-2026_0.docx)
- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) Schedule 1C (code of conduct for experts)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/ucpr1999305/sch1c.html)
- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) r 429F (duty of expert)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/ucpr1999305/s429f.html)
- [Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld) r 429H (requirements for report)](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/qld/consol_reg/ucpr1999305/s429h.html)
- [Queensland Courts, Using Generative AI (page listing the civil practice directions)](https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/going-to-court/prepare-for-court/representing-yourself/using-generative-ai)
- [Supreme Court of Queensland Practice Direction 5 of 2025, Accuracy of references in submissions](https://www.courts.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/889148/sc-pd-5-pf-2025.pdf)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/letter-instructing-orthopaedic-surgeon and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*