Where no engineering experts are cross-examined, a trial judge cannot prefer one expert over another based on an essentially irrelevant aspect of the evidence without engaging with unchallenged aspects of the opposing expert's evidence. Expert evidence must be assessed in the context of all the evidence, including medical and lay evidence. A plaintiff's criminal record and periods of imprisonment do not justify differential treatment in the assessment of past economic loss; the relevant question remains whether there has been an impairment of economic capacity productive of loss. A criminal record may, however, be taken into account as a vicissitude in the assessment of future economic loss under s 13 of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW).
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