Expert Witness

Members of LPC Internationals professionally qualified senior staff have experience of acting as expert witness on behalf of clients where our specialist knowledge and analytical skills are appropriate.

Expert Witness activities are headed by Robert Williams FICLT, Head of Practice. A mechanical engineer with an academic and industrial background, Robert has been involved in logistics and supply chain consultancy since 1970. He was Assistant Director of the National Materials Handling Centre at Cranfield University from 1978-84, leaving to found LPC International Ltd.

His specialties as an expert witness are in warehouse design and operations, materials handling and storage systems design and applications, 3rd party logistics, road transport, warehouse computer systems and health and safety in warehouses.

Examples of expert witness assignments include:-

Litigation

Failure of Factory Floor

Retained by a claimant in case of dispute between a factory occupier and the the builder of the factory where the 12,000 sq.m ground floor slab failed and the occupier (an engineering manufacturer) had been forced to move its production facilities and storage operations to temporary premises while remedial work was carried out

Breach of Contract by 3PL

Retained by the client of a 3PL logistics service provider when the the 3PL breached its distribution contract by virtue of failing to make delivery to a network of 300 customers in accordance with the pre-agreed delivery schedules, thereby causing substantial and costly disruption to the claimants business. The losses incurred related to warehousing, transport and stock.

Automated Warehouse

Retained by one of several joint defendants in a case where a fully automated warehouse was alledged to have failed to meet its design specifications

Failure of Warehouse Floor

Retained by retail company on matters concerning the phased re-location of its warehousing and distribution operations while extensive repairs were made to the floor of its 25,000 sq.m distribution centre, due to alleged design and construction faults

Computerised Vehicle Routing and Scheduling

Retained as joint expert witness in case where defendant acquired vehicle routing and scheduling software which it subsequently claimed did not meet its operational needs.

Public Inquiries

Warehouse Development

Retained as expert witness at Public Inquiry, on behalf of a County Council opposing a planning appeal for construction of new Distribution Centre.
The County Council won its case

Factory Development

Retained as expert witness by food manufacturer to represent its logistics interests at public inquiry concerned with proposed new factory development on greenfield land adjacent to its existing production facilities. Planning permission was granted.