Expert Witnesses Provide Valuable Support at Trial

If you’ve been hurt in an accident and are forced to file a lawsuit to recover what you’re owed, you want to give yourself the best possible chances of success at trial. In order to best show a judge or jury why you are entitled to receive damages, you may wish to consider using expert witness testimony at trial. Expert witnesses use specialized technical knowledge to analyze the evidence in a case and provide an opinion on what caused an accident, or what sort of expenses the injured person can expect to incur throughout their lifetime.

In personal injury lawsuits, some commonly-used categories of expert witnesses are:

Accident Reconstruction Expert

A verbal description of how an accident occurred from those involved in it is a necessary component of any trial, but a visual display built off photographs and physical evidence from the scene of an accident can be even more valuable in furthering a judge or jury’s understanding of how an accident occurred. An accident reconstruction expert can create computer model recreations of an accident, and can also take evidence, testimony, or photos from an accident scene to offer an estimate of how fast cars were traveling when the crash occurred, or possibly if a driver was distracted or intoxicated when a crash occurred.

Economist

If you were seriously injured in an accident, you may be saddled with lifelong consequences from those injuries, including in-home medical care, extensive rehabilitation, or a loss of future earning capacity. An economist can offer testimony regarding what sorts of costs you can expect to face for those medical expenditures, and how much less you can actually expect to earn over your lifetime to support your claim for damages.

Medical expert

While it may be obvious how your injuries were caused by an accident, a defendant may try to argue that certain internal injuries existed prior to the accident. A medical expert can examine you and your medical records and explain the evidence showing that the accident caused your injuries. This expert can also assess your prognosis for a full recovery, and estimate the extent of future medical treatment you will need along the course of your lifetime.

If you have been injured in an accident in Idaho, seek seasoned legal assistance in bringing a claim for compensation for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering by contacting personal injury law firm Pedersen Whitehead & Hanby for a consultation on your claims, in Boise at 208-336-2552, or Twin Falls, at 208-734-2552.