Facilitated by Dave Serjeant
This seminar is designed to be a practical guide to preparing and presenting evidence at the Environment Court. It will address what it means to be an expert witness, primarily focusing on planning experts however the seminar is of value to all expert witnesses.
It will include commentary on practices designed to assist the Court to determine technical issues where experts offer conflicting opinions. This will include the fairly standard practice of requiring technical witnesses to attend expert conferencing and produce an agreed statement of facts and/or joint statements of evidence.
The seminar also provides guidance on how to conduct one’s self under cross-examination.
The facilitators are joined by a senior RMA lawyer and a Judge of the environment Court for the Presentation, providing insights on what is expected from the expert witness form their perspective.
Dave Serjeant
Dave Serjeant is an environmental planner and independent hearings commissioner with a nationwide practice in plan making and large, complex projects. Dave’s experience spans a wide range of environments, from inner urban Auckland to the outstanding landscapes of Central Otago, and from landfill operations to marinas. His clients include corporate entities, Councils and non-governmental environmental organisations. He has frequent appearances before the Environment Court as an expert planning witness and related involvement in mediations and expert conferencing.Dave holds the qualifications of Bachelor of Town Planning from Auckland University (1979) and Master in Business Studies (Economics) from Massey University (1985). He is a full member of the New Zealand Planning Institute and a member of the Resource Management Law Association, with 37 years professional experience.
