Expert Witnesses: Here’s Why Your Personal Injury Case Needs One

Imagine suffering injuries from a car accident, workplace accident, or slip and fall accident but ending up losing the personal injury case or failing to get fair compensation. Does this sound surprising? If yes, be reminded that the primary role of defense attorneys is to downplay the plaintiff’s injuries and dismantle their case. Also, remember that insurance companies are in it for money and will always try to find a way to denying or delaying fair compensation. Some of the key elements of a personal injury case are:

  • Causation
  • Determination of liability
  • Assessment of damages

Having proper legal expertise in the form of personal injury lawyers representing you in the case is essential. Additionally, you need expert witnesses to win a personal injury case.

Examples of expert witnesses include medical experts, engineering experts, safety experts, and financial experts, among others. Expert witnesses play a significant role in the following ways:

1. Providing Authoritative Opinion

Expert witnesses with specialized knowledge will provide technical details of an accident, helping the jury and attorneys arrive at informed decisions.

For example, a safety expert or an engineer can identify the defects in the design or manufacturing of a part(s) of a car that could have contributed to the accident. With such information, personal injury lawyers can accurately identify the vehicle manufacturer as the liable party and build their case for compensation.

2. Quantifying Injuries

The fairness of compensation in personal injury cases depends on the accuracy of calculations of short-term or long-term medical expenses, lost earning capacity, and current and future projections of the value of products, among other economic damages.

If you have medical experts or witnesses, they will provide accurate data on medical records, including projected medical expenses.

In case of car damage, financial experts will help quantify the damage and its impact on the victim’s ability to work and generate more income.

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3. Make Arguments Credible

Since defendants and insurance companies hire expert witnesses to help downplay the plaintiffs’ injuries and damage claims, you need experts to counter this and make your arguments credible. 

For instance, a psychological expert can lend credibility to the argument of trauma resulting from an accident. This can be essential in cases where the defendant tries to argue that the injuries are minor as physically seen. Expert witnesses will strengthen your personal injury case against the defendants by clarifying misconceptions and dismantling opposing arguments.

4. Simplifying Complex Issues and Technical Aspects of the Case

Most personal injury cases involve several complex medical, engineering, and financial issues relating to the causation, extent of injuries, among others. How well the expert witnesses break down these issues and simplify them impacts the ruling the jury will make.

For example, in a car accident, engineering experts collect and make technical details of the potential causes of that accident available to the court. These expert witnesses use jargon-free language and real-life examples during their trial presentation to make the jury understand those technical details and other complex issues. The availability of such evidence puts the jury in a better position to make informed decisions and fair rulings in such cases.

Summary

Your personal injury case needs expert witnesses, like medical experts, as much as it needs experienced personal injury lawyers. Failure to do this will put your case at risk of suffering a blow from the defendant’s expert witnesses, who will always try to reduce the extent of injuries, hence disputing liability.

The role of an expert witness is to contribute from a scientific or technical perspective, which further strengthens the case. Additionally, accurately quantifying injuries, simplifying complex concepts, and lending credibility to arguments are among the reasons you need expert witnesses to get successful outcomes in your personal injury case.

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