The senior partner of Bristol-based independent property consultancy Alder King has been named Property Law Expert of the Year after being nominated by readers of the Lawyer Monthly magazine.
Martyn Jones, pictured, who specialises in commercial property valuation and landlord and tenant issues, was nominated by readers of the legal news publication for his expertise and experience as an expert witness in nearly 100 different formal valuation-led proceedings. 
Since his first appointment in 1993, Martyn has given expert evidence in the County Court, High Court and Upper Tribunal (Lands), as well as in arbitration and mediation proceedings and Public Inquiry. He has also appeared as single joint expert in a wide range of cases spanning matrimonial, restrictive covenant and trespass issues.
In recent years he has also acted in a number of large professional negligence claims involving commercial and residential development sites.
Martyn’s unrivalled knowledge of the South West and Welsh property markets means he is often in demand as an expert witness in valuation and rental disputes. He is regularly appointed by the president of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) to act as independent expert or arbitrator in complex disputes covering a range of property and associated matters.
Martyn said: “It’s very rewarding that my role in a wide range of proceedings over the past 20 plus years has been recognised by leading members of the legal profession, resulting in this award.
“The role of an expert witness is to impartially assist courts, tribunals, arbitration hearings and other formal proceedings in understanding the sometimes very complex issues in a dispute.”
Martyn qualified as a chartered surveyor in 1987 and began his career at the Valuation Office Agency. He joined Alder King in 1988, becoming a partner four years later. In 1993 he joined the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the following year was made a Fellow of the RICS.
In 2009 he became Alder King’s senior partner and leads the firm’s professional services division, which incorporates the valuation, lease advisory and business rates teams.
Alder King, which has seven offices across the South West and Wales, has more than 20 qualified partners who regularly appear as expert witness in formal proceedings. Each member of the team has at least 15 years’ professional commercial property experience in fields ranging from valuation, business rates and building consultancy through to planning, professional negligence and landlord and tenant.
The Lawyer Monthly Expert Witness Awards recognise experts from a variety of subject fields who have superior knowledge and experience within their field and have a proven track record of involvement in significant cases.
