Building a personal injury case requires a lot of work. This is because you carry the burden of proof, meaning that you have to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the defendant’s negligence caused your accident, thereby resulting in your injuries and your damages. It’s no easy task, especially considering that many of these personal injury cases are hotly contested.
There are things you can do to build your personal injury case, though. This includes obtaining your police report, talking to witnesses, following your doctor’s treatment recommendations, obtaining your medical records, and keeping track of your accident-related expenses. But sometimes even doing all of that isn’t enough to prove every aspect of your case. That’s why as you navigate your claim you may need to turn to one or more expert witnesses to help you build your legal arguments.
Which expert witnesses do you need in your case?
The answer to this question depends on the circumstances at hand. However, there are some common expert witnesses that accident victims turn to when they need to provide their case with an evidentiary boost. Here are some of those witnesses that may prove beneficial to your case:
- Accident reconstruction expert: Although a lot of car accidents are straightforward and the cause of the wreck is easy to determine, others are more complicated. When multiple vehicles are involved, for example, it can be tricky to decipher which driver or drivers were at fault for the accident, which can make it hard to determine how to argue liability. An accident reconstruction expert, though, is trained in applying the laws of physics to physical evidence to determine fault. The accident reconstruction expert’s final report is oftentimes given a lot of weight during negotiations and trial.
- Medical expert: The damages portion of your case requires you to show the extent of the harm that has been caused to you by the accident. Although it might be easy to show the harm that you’ve already incurred, it can be more difficult to demonstrate how your injuries will affect your life in the future. A medical expert can testify as to how your injuries will require additional treatment and how they will affect your ability to live a normal life moving forward.
- Employment expert: Another part of the damages portion of your case is going to focus on your lost wages and your lost earnings capacity. You may need someone who is experienced in your line of work to testify as to how your injuries will affect your ability to return to your normal job, obtain a similar job, or the trajectory of your career. This expert might also be able to speak to the costs associated with any additional education or training that you’ll need to earn an adequate wage.
There may be other experts that you need in your case, but how you approach your circumstances will depend on the facts at hand.
Do you need help building your personal injury case?
If you want to recover the compensation that you need to get by post-accident, then you need to know how to build a strong personal injury case. There are a lot of aspects to an aggressive claim, and you have to know how to navigate each area of your case if you want to maximize your chances of obtaining a favorable outcome.