Some of you may have already heard the term “expert witness.”
You probably heard it in a high-profile court case that was televised nationally.
Maybe the expert witness was a medical specialist in a high-profile malpractice suit, or perhaps it was a DNA expert in a murder trial.
Although expert witnesses are valuable resources in cases like these, they can also play an essential role in your car accident case.
They can also help with motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, bicycle accidents, wrongful death, and many other types of personal injury cases.
Some car accident cases are clear cut, and faults can be determined relatively easily.
But even some minor wrecks, like a rear-end collision, can involve heated disputes over who was really at fault for the injuries and damages suffered by the crash.
This is when hiring an expert witness can prove to be priceless for your case.
An expert witness can provide valuable information about your case and can explain everything from the severity of your injuries to the cause of your car accident and what your future medical costs may be.
The testimony of an expert witness in a disputed personal injury case can give you a great deal of leverage when your attorney is negotiating with the insurance companies for compensation or if your claim makes it to trial.
Car accident lawyers will often consult with expert witnesses to give their clients the best chance to win their case.
In the article below, we will discuss the role of expert witnesses in car crash claims.
What’s An Expert Witness?
An expert witness is a professional who likely didn’t witness your crash.
However, they have specialized knowledge, training, education, or experience about the details of your case they can use to back up your claim.
Don’t confuse an expert witness with an eyewitness. An eyewitness is someone who saw your accident happen.
If your lawyer decides to use an expert witness at trial, they will have to name them all in advance of the trial date to qualify the witnesses as experts in court.
An expert witness is especially useful in cases where there were no eyewitnesses to the wreck.
A qualified expert witness can draw educated conclusions about what caused the accident to happen and develop physical and computer models to present to a jury.
Even if your case doesn’t make it to trial, an expert witness’s opinion can sway the insurance company one way or the other when deciding to award compensation.
Common Types of Expert Witnesses For Your Car Accident Case
Accident Reconstructionists
Car accidents happen suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere.
This leaves many people thinking that there is no way to know what happened, leading to the car crash.
But that’s not always true, especially if you hire an accident reconstructionist.
An accident reconstructionist is a highly trained professional whose only job is to recreate wrecks after they happen to determine how the accident happened.
They perform accident reconstruction using a combination of technology and their expertise about how car accidents occur to help assign fault for the accident.
Your accident reconstructionist may be able to establish a chain of events that lead up to your crash, which can help your lawyer establish fault for your case.
Want to learn how to decrease your risk of an accident? Read our blog post, “How to Reduce the Risk of Car Accidents.”
Economists
Several types of damages can be awarded after a car wreck, including economic and non-economic damages.
Damages available after car accidents can include lost wages, diminished quality of life, the impact your car wreck has had on your ability to earn a living, to name a few.
As a result, damages available to you in your case will be determined by the facts and circumstances of your accident.
It can be challenging to put a dollar amount on some non-economic damages like pain and suffering.
An economist can help you, and your attorney arrives at a reasonable economic basis to calculate the value of your past, present, and future losses.
Highway Safety Expert
Every year new traffic accident data is published.
It would take a full-time job to keep up with it all.
However, that job actually exists!
That full-time job is precisely what a highway safety expert does.
A highway safety expert understands how auto accidents happen, how drivers behave, and how various conditions, like traffic patterns, the time of day, weather, road conditions, and sunlight, affect auto accidents.
When your attorney enlists the help of a highway safety expert, they can provide tremendous insight into the area where your accident occurred and the various factors that might have contributed to the crash.
Mental Health Expert
If your car wreck resulted in pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, or any other emotional damage, a mental health expert could be a crucial expert witness for you.
A mental health expert can help quantify the value of your emotional damages.
Mental health experts are also critical for validating your claims of emotional distress and suffering to the insurance companies or a jury of your peers.
Medical Expert
Medical experts are most often used in medical malpractice claims.
These claims typically require testimony from a relevant physician or medical specialist.
However, a medical expert can be valuable to your car accident claim as well.
A medical expert can provide reliable opinions on:
- How long you’ve had the injury
- The impact the injury could have on your life
- Your prognosis and recovery time
- If the crash caused your injury
- The severity of your injuries
- How your injuries occurred
- Treatment options and treatment costs
Engineering Experts
Some auto accidents can be very technical so that engineering experts can be instrumental in your case.
As a result, An engineering expert can address the collision’s technical aspects, including the roadway’s design, the construction of buildings, and other physical property involved in the accident, vehicle design, and more.
There are many different types of engineers. Your personal injury attorney will determine which type of engineer will be most helpful to your collision claim.
Contact The Angell Law Firm If You’ve Been Involved In An Auto Accident
Depending on the unique facts and circumstances of your injury claim, you may need the help of expert witnesses.
Suppose the negligent party is denying responsibility for the accident or even blaming you for the accident.
In that case, an expert witness can help you assign fault to the defendant.
As a result, this can help you receive the compensation you deserve.
An experienced auto accident attorney with the Angell Law Firm will select and interview potential expert witnesses.
They will also retain the necessary expert witnesses.
The Angell Law Firm will use their expert witness testimony to maximize the value of your personal injury claim.
However, if you’ve recently been injured in an auto accident, you need to hire a personal injury attorney.
Schedule your free consultation today!
Bryce is considered a highly esteemed trial lawyer and a passionate client advocate amongst his peers in the Atlanta legal community. Never afraid to go the extra mile for his clients, Bryce Angell works tirelessly to ensure that each client’s personal injury case gets the attention that it deserves.