Expert Service Roles

We act as an adviser, expert witness, and expert determiner within the fields of outsourcing and IT. Our services support you, your legal team, and the court in asking the right questions. They are answered insightfully. Our purpose to bring clarity so supporting you in gaining early and just resolution.

Our experience includes delivering some of the world’s largest IT services, major applications delivery, and business process outsourcing (BPO). We have acted for parties in multiple countries, tribunals and courts. Several cases have involved the development of applications by entrepreneurial companies, and associated shareholder disputes.

Approach

Oareborough brings precision, diplomacy, confidence, and experience. A report that is credible to the court or tribunal is balanced and impartial. This duty is fulfilled with tact and patience. We are aware of the emotional effect on clients of undertaking litigation. The choice of an expert is a major decision and requires trust.

As current practitioners in service delivery, we keep up to date in emerging technologies such as AI. Context also changes, digital transformation and iterative delivery currently being widespread. We have developed requirements, written software, managed programmes, and conducted procurements. We have also operationally recovered services where they have failed.

At Oareborough, we love our work, caring for our clients as they go through what is frequently a stressful experience. We delight in interaction with leading Counsel and Solicitors and seek to avoid over-commitment. We think this approach leads to earlier and better outcomes for our clients. The engagement of an expert is a significant one that is frequently influential for the outcome of a case. We have regard not only for causation in IT, but for the links to quantum and other experts with whom we interact.

We have used our skills in IT and data science to assemble a sophisticated toolset to support the conduct of our work. Investigation starts with the contract, we then explore the evidence in the light of pleaded issues to explain the findings and opinion simply to clients, the legal team and the court.

Expert Reporting

Fitness for Purpose

Application requirements, code review and forensic analysis, architecture review, project and service management. Design and delivery review and assessment against good industry practice. We have particular experience in large-scale delivery (up to £250m a year). Also multi-vendor services, agile methods, digital transformation, cloud services, software engineering, procurement and professional competence. A good fit delivers the expected business benefits.

 

Project Delay

Analysis of project delay, qualitative reasons and quantification. Our work draws on a knowledge of delivering IT and outsource projects. We understand the interactions and dependencies, project and programme management, application development, delivery, and test. We are familiar with accepted delay analysis methods and their use. A compelling story makes the connections clear to the court.

Intellectual Property

Software review of algorithms, delivery methods and similarity of code. Web sites and email domains. License terms. Examination and reporting of software copyright, database and associated rights. Confidentiality and industrial secrets. This has included work in games development.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Disputes concerning the strategy, design, training, delivery, implementation of AI systems. Data science, machine learning, analytics and data management. LLMs and generative AI. Compliance, performance and bias.

Competition Act / TFEU / CAT

Report to clarify the operation of IT and associated markets in the context of class action and other competition act disputes.

Services Sourcing

Investigations concerning the specification, procurement, pricing, risk management, selection, evaluation, transition, commercial management and associated processes for IT and outsourced services.

William Hooper’s Experience

William spent more than twenty years working for IT and outsourcing suppliers before joining a major international management consultancy. He then established Oareborough Consulting. In the course of this he investigated and recovered several troubled services.

He has given oral evidence, been cross-examined, investigated, and reported for courts and tribunals in multiple jurisdictions.

Lady Justice atop the Old Bailey
Expert CV

Free Exploratory Consultation

Blob Person with Question Mark scratching headPlease call +44 7909 958274 or use the Contacts form for a free initial consultation. Early action can help to refine the issues, complementing your legal advice. It assesses the likelihood of obtaining a good outcome, helping you manage vulnerability and to provide input to your pleadings.

Expert CV

Expert Witness Associations

EWI
Member Reigster No. 3183
SCL logo
Registered and accredited by the UK Register of Expert Witnesses

“As a student you are judged by how well you answer questions. In life, what is important is how good your questions are.”

Prof Robert Langer