Suffering severe injuries is not enough to justify your damages to the insurance company in a car crash. Many Texas car accident survivors face significant reductions in the compensation owed to them by the insurance company. A Lubbock car accident lawyer provides an advocate who will work to demonstrate how the at-fault party’s negligence is responsible for your losses.
Working with an expert witness may be a crucial component of the claim process. The team at Liggett Law Group seeks the most experienced professionals to support your claim, striving to maximize your recovery potential. Below, we answer the question of what is an expert witness and how we may utilize their knowledge in your case.
What Is an Expert Witness?
An expert witness is a person with an acknowledged background or demonstrated education in a field related to the details of your case. They may use their proficiency on a particular subject, like car accident crashes, to produce a report recreating the accident’s events and evaluating your damages. Your attorney will use this during insurance negotiations to secure a fair settlement.
In doing so, they use the expert’s informed opinion based on evidence about a driver’s actions and their contribution to your injuries to show what happened and how you were hurt by the negligent party. Even with this evidence, the insurance company may still fail to offer a fair settlement in an insurance claim.
An expert witness may then testify before a court to describe the events of an accident or the details of your injuries in everyday terms that jury members can more easily understand. The information they uncover about the accident can help your car accident attorney establish fault, document your damages, and potentially increase your financial compensation.
Who Determines a Witness Is an Expert?
Our Lubbock car accident attorneys vet the expert witnesses we engage to ensure their skills support our representation of the case evidence. We review their background, previous case history, and professional work with personal injury cases. This provides insight into their technical and scientific experience, how it benefits your case, and how it limits the defense’s ability to challenge their accident assessment.
Attorneys for the at-fault driver also have the right to question an expert witness and utilize their own expert witnesses.
The defense has the right to review their qualifications before a judge determines if the individual may serve as an expert witness. The review process also helps prevent or minimize potential objections to the information an expert witness provides.
Types of Expert Witnesses in Texas Car Accident Cases
Hiring one or more expert witnesses may be necessary to assist with solving disputes about a car accident and your personal injury case. Each expert can provide their professional opinion, supporting the financial damages our team determines are necessary to compensate you.
Medical Experts
A medical expert can explain the connection between a car accident and your injuries. They can give insight into the extent of your injuries, as well as ongoing treatment, therapies, medications, and future surgeries you may require. A medical expert can also evaluate the impact of inflation on future costs of care, helping quantify your damages to an insurance company or jury.
Accident Reconstructionists
Accident ReconstructionistsCreating a visual and audio reconstruction of your accident can play a pivotal role in documenting the accident’s cause and showing who is at fault, particularly in disputed claims. An accident reconstructionist may examine vehicle damage, skid marks, speed, road conditions, trajectory, weather, and road conditions to provide documentation about the accident events. Video footage, event data recorders (EDR), and cell phone records may also play a role in reconstructing accident events.
Mental Health Experts
A car accident’s mental and emotional impacts on your health can be as significant as the financial costs to you. Severe injuries may reduce your quality and enjoyment of life. Car accident survivors or the families of wrongful death accident victims may struggle with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the incident. Chronic pain and health challenges can significantly impact mental health.
Economists
Quantifying the hardship you endure due to missed work and its impact on paying your bills and medical costs provides further support for the economic damages to you. An economist can explain these losses when your injuries impact your earning capacity. An economist may also identify a family’s losses when a family’s primary income earner dies as a result of negligence in a Texas car accident.
When Do You Need an Expert Witness in a Personal Injury Case?
Your personal injury case may not require the experience of an expert witness. However, there are incidents when an expert witness is vital to the outcome of a settlement or verdict. A Lubbock car accident attorney may implement an expert witness in the following instances.
You Suffer Severe Injuries
It may be challenging for doctors to determine how your injuries from a Texas car accident will impact you long-term. Car accidents causing spinal cord, back or neck injuries, organ damage, traumatic brain injury (TBI), or amputation create complex scenarios for your future. Accounting for these damages and documenting their financial consequences may make an expert witness critical to your recovery.
The Accident Events Are Complex
Proving the cause of an accident may not be straightforward. Accidents resulting from a manufacturing defect may require a car accident attorney to file a product liability claim, holding a manufacturer, distributor, or seller responsible for your damages. Cases involving multiple parties in an accident may also require an expert witness to assist in determining the cause of the accident.
Assessing Financial Damages
After an accident, assessing the costs of care is crucial to your health and financial stability. The severity of your injuries and the necessary treatment for your care impact your financial costs. For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate the total healthcare costs of nonfatal TBIs are over $40.6 billion annually. While TBIs can result from various personal injuries, unintentional falls and motor vehicle accidents are the top contributors to traumatic brain injury.
Does Using an Expert Witness Mean I Will Go to Court?
A car accident lawyer may employ an expert witness while negotiating a settlement with the insurance company to prevent you from having to go to court. Their opinions and insight can provide critical leverage to support your damages without legal action. This can protect your privacy by keeping you out of the courtroom, yet, there may be situations where a personal injury lawsuit is the best chance to recover full compensation.
Working with a Lubbock car accident attorney who builds a claim with the support of expert witnesses may also demonstrate that you and your legal advocate take your recovery and financial compensation seriously.
Working with our team allows us to approach your claim with an eye on potential legal action and prepare for litigating your case in court when necessary.
Discuss the Benefits of an Expert Witness to Your Lubbock Car Accident Claim
The Lubbock car accident attorneys at Liggett Law Group will go the distance to fight for you in a personal injury claim. We take your case personally and use proven techniques to secure the justice you deserve. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and discuss how we can handle your case, including collaborating with qualified expert witnesses.