Guide
Who can write a medico-legal report?
A medico-legal report is written by a doctor or other health professional with specialised knowledge of the question asked, gained through training, study or experience. Usually a specialist instructed by a lawyer or insurer. In court, the author is an expert witness whose paramount duty is to the court, not to whoever pays.
This answer is general. The detailed rules depend on the court and the jurisdiction, and the instructing lawyer should confirm them for the matter.
The short version
- Qualifications: registration in the relevant profession, and expertise that matches the question. An orthopaedic surgeon on a spinal injury; a psychiatrist on psychiatric injury; a GP on general practice standards.
- Instructions: usually a letter from a solicitor, insurer or the court, setting out the questions and the material supplied.
- Duty: to assist the court impartially within their expertise. Not to advocate.
- Content: opinions, the facts and assumptions they rest on, the reasons, and the literature relied on.
What "specialised knowledge" means
In Australian courts applying the uniform evidence law, opinion evidence is admissible from a person with specialised knowledge based on training, study or experience, where the opinion is wholly or substantially based on that knowledge (Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) s 79). The Federal Court's Expert Evidence Practice Note (GPN-EXPT) refers to the same test.
In practice that means two questions. Is the author qualified in the right field? And is each opinion inside that field? A good report says plainly when a question falls outside the author's expertise.
The duty to the court
The Harmonised Expert Witness Code of Conduct, which the Federal Court applies through GPN-EXPT, says that an expert witness "is not an advocate for a party and has a paramount duty, overriding any duty to the party to the proceedings or other person retaining the expert witness, to assist the Court impartially on matters relevant to the area of expertise of the witness." NSW applies an equivalent code through the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules (r 31.23 and Schedule 7). In England and Wales, Part 35 of the Civil Procedure Rules sets out the same overriding duty.
The report usually has to acknowledge that the author has read the code and agrees to be bound by it.
Treating doctor or independent expert?
Both can write reports, and they do different jobs.
- A treating doctor knows the patient and the history. Their report is valuable on diagnosis, treatment and progress, but they may be seen as closer to the patient.
- An independent medical expert has no treating relationship and is instructed to answer specific questions, often on causation, prognosis or standard of care.
Which one a matter needs depends on the questions and on the court's rules. Many matters have both.
What the report must contain
Under the Federal Court's code, a report must state, among other things: the expert's qualifications; the assumptions and material facts each opinion is based on; the reasons for each opinion and "any literature or other materials utilised in support"; any question that falls outside the expert's field; and any examinations, tests or investigations relied on and who carried them out.
That literature requirement is where many reports are weakest, and where AI has made the risk sharper. In 2026 a US court excluded an expert's entire report after finding hallucinated citations in a reference table produced with AI and appended without checking. The lesson travels: every paper cited is a paper the author should have read.
Where MIA fits
MIA (Medical Intel) is a literature desk for medicine, biotechnology and the medico-legal file. It does not write the opinion. The opinion is the expert's. It helps with the literature that opinion relies on.
- Finding, inference and gap. Put a paper, a scan or an exhibit on the desk. MIA writes a working: what the file shows, what may reasonably be drawn from it, and what it does not establish. A missing method, a thin sample or an abstract without the paper stays a gap.
- Clinical Conservative by default. Standard of care is kept apart from investigational claims. Research Expansion is available for hypothesis work and always opens with a banner saying it is not standard of care.
- Deep Review. Two workings, then settled: agree, contest, or still a gap.
- Imaging and pathology as supplied, in educational pattern-language. Not a radiology report.
MIA is not a clinician and does not give medical advice. Attach the PDF, or connect Google Drive or Dropbox. A paper stays on that desk.
Try it on a paper you rely on: 150 free credits, no card.
FAQ
Can a GP write a medico-legal report? Yes, on questions within general practice, such as the patient's history and treatment or general practice standards. Questions in a specialist field usually need a specialist.
Does the expert work for the lawyer who instructs them? They are paid by the instructing party, but under the expert codes their paramount duty is to assist the court impartially.
What literature should a medico-legal report cite? The literature actually relied on for each opinion, identified in the report. Every cited paper should have been read by the author.
Sources
Federal Court of Australia, Expert Evidence Practice Note (GPN-EXPT) and Annexure A, Harmonised Expert Witness Code of Conduct: https://www.fedcourt.gov.au/law-and-practice/practice-documents/practice-notes/gpn-expt. Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) r 31.23, Sch 7. Evidence Act 1995 (Cth) s 79. Civil Procedure Rules (England and Wales) Part 35.