Expert witnesses can be a tremendous asset in personal injury cases - especially if your case goes to trial. When proving your case in a trial, expert witness testimony can help explain technically complex evidence and help prove causation, liability, and damages.
Even if your case does not go to trial, experts can help you build your strongest case by demonstrating how the defendant is liable and accurately valuing a victim’s current and future damages to help reach a fair settlement.
An experienced Dallas personal injury attorney usually has a wide network of experts to consult and hire when necessary to help recover maximum compensation for their clients.
Your attorney from Bush & Bush Law Group will help you decide whether an expert witness is beneficial and what types of experts will be most appropriate for your case.
When a person is injured due to another party’s fault, they have the right to compensation for their damages. However, an injury victim must prove what caused their accident and what party is at fault. They must also prove that they suffered actual damages and the value of those damages.
Most personal injury claims depend on proving a defendant’s negligence. To be successful in a negligence case, you will need to prove:
Proving these four elements can be challenging. However, an experienced, skillful personal injury attorney will gather essential evidence to build your strongest case. Often, having an expert witness present testimony and/or expert reports is necessary.
For example, an accident reconstructionist or engineer may help prove how an accident occurred and who was responsible for its cause. A physician may help prove that you suffered actual damages and the extent of your physical damages. A mental health expert may help establish the extent of your non-economic damages, and an economic expert may help prove the actual costs of your current and future financial losses.
In a personal injury case, expert and lay witnesses are two general types of witnesses.
A lay witness provides their knowledge of what they saw or heard, including at the accident scene or afterward, regarding the accident's impact on a victim. Examples of lay witnesses could be a stranger who witnessed your accident and a friend who testifies about your pain and daily struggles caused by your injuries.
Expert witnesses are qualified as experts in their fields. They provide testimony based on their specialized training, experience, or knowledge that can help a jury understand facts about your case and help them reach an appropriate conclusion about the cause of an accident, who is liable, and the damages a victim has sustained.
Expert witnesses can help explain complicated issues that most people would not understand in a way that makes sense. Unlike lay witnesses, experts are also permitted to express an opinion about the evidence in a case.
Many types of experts may be valuable in a personal injury case. Some types of expert witnesses that may be consulted in your case include:
These experts are usually doctors, surgeons, and specialists who can testify about a victim’s injuries, prognosis, and the likely long-term impacts on a victim’s life. Depending on the case, your attorney may want multiple medical experts to testify. For example, if you suffered a brain injury and crushed bones, you may need a neurosurgeon and an orthopedic surgeon to testify.
A psychological expert may be needed to provide expert testimony about a victim’s mental and emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, and other intangible losses.
These experts help quantify the financial damages incurred by an injury victim by using their finance and economics expertise to determine the total current and future calculation of damages. Economic experts look at a victim’s salary records, industry standards, inflation, interest rates, and life expectancy to get an accurate picture of the financial damages a victim has and will suffer because of their injuries.
An engineering expert may be needed when a personal injury claim involves workplace safety, machinery, vehicles, road designs, or manufacturing issues. Their knowledge of engineering principles can help them determine the factors that contributed to the accident and help them explain those factors to a jury.
A vocational expert can evaluate and explain how an injury victim’s career and earning capacity are impacted. Their evaluations help calculate lost wages, job retraining needs, and diminished earning capacity so a fair value of a victim’s damages can be determined.
Accident reconstructionists can be essential in some accident cases. They use their specialized knowledge of physics, engineering, and forensics to help recreate the circumstances of an accident. They may use computer simulations, diagrams, or models to help a jury understand the factors contributing to an accident and the victim’s damages. Their testimony can help explain how an accident happened, including the contributing factors and liable parties.
Your personal injury attorney should have the experience and knowledge to choose the best expert witnesses for your case. Of course, the first thing to determine is the type of experts needed.
Once your attorney knows what type of expert is needed, they must determine which professionals being considered for your case possess the specialized knowledge and/or education in their field to qualify as an expert in a court proceeding.
If they have the necessary education and experience to be experts, the next consideration is how well they can explain complex information clearly and in a relatable way to a jury. Having expert knowledge supporting your claim does not help much if they cannot describe it in a way the jury understands.
Another consideration is how much experience your expert has in testifying before juries. When an expert is familiar with the legal proceedings and how they are expected to present their testimony, they will be more effective in proving your case.
You need an experienced personal injury attorney with a vast network of experts to choose from for specific circumstances in a case.
At Bush & Bush Law Group, our attorneys frequently work with some of the best expert witnesses to help prove our client's case and recover maximum compensation.
If you have been injured because of another party’s fault, we want to help you get the justice and financial compensation you deserve.
Call (469) 977-7777 or visit our contact page for free consultation.
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