How Specialized Should An Expert Witness Be In Your Personal Injury Case?
An expert witness can play an incredibly important role in your malpractice or personal injury case. However, finding the right expert witness can become a challenge. Occasionally, you may need someone with a highly specialized area of expertise.
What is an Expert Witness?
An expert witness is a professional or specialist in a particular field. They use their expertise to corroborate or dispute the details of a plaintiff or defendant's story.
For example, a foot and ankle doctor can help prove your foot injury could have happened to anybody else if caught in the same kind of accident. This testimony can go a long way towards proving you deserve the compensation you claim for the injury.
What an Expert Witness Can Do for You
Keep in mind that in many personal injury or medical malpractice cases, the insurance company for the defendant may ask you to submit to their own medical exams. If they come to one conclusion, and your expert draws a completely different one, it can cause the case to drag.
An expert witness can make your case airtight. They can
- offer a professional analysis of the situation,
- review a claim in depth,
- explain complex issues to the court,
- or help the judge or jury to come to a final decision.
They can come in quite handy when it's helpful to you. But they can also represent an obstacle if used against you.
Should Your Expert Have General Knowledge, or Specialized Knowledge
Sometimes it's necessary to call in an expert witness on a specific problem. One good example of this is with orthopedic specialists. Orthopedics deal with the musculoskeletal system. That's a very broad category.
You cannot just call in any orthopedic surgeon for an orthopedic expert opinion. You may end up with someone knowledgeable in one aspect of orthopedics - such as the spine – but not in another, such as issues with the knees and hips.
Both represent a part of the musculoskeletal system, but both work in completely different ways. While the specialist may have a good grasp of your injury, the other may have performed the specific surgery you needed a thousand times before.
Let Your Lawyer Help You Find the Right Expert Witness
There are many places where you can look up an expert witness, but you should let your lawyer help you choose. As stated, you can end up with the wrong specialist for your case. In addition, an expert witness isn't always necessary. Your lawyer will help you figure out if hiring one is the right move or not. For more information, contact establishments like Orthopedic Expert Services, LLC.
Share
