Losing a loved one due to someone else’s negligence is devastating. Nothing can bring your loved one back. Yet, the only way to hold someone legally accountable for the tremendous pain and grief your family has had to experience due to their negligence may be by filing a wrongful death claim. Expert witnesses can play a pivotal role in proving your wrongful death claim and your right to compensation.
Expert witnesses have unique experience, skills, or education that provides them with critical insights into complex aspects of your case. They use their specialized knowledge and professional expertise to clarify complex issues. Expert witnesses can be consultants who inform your legal team of critical aspects, or they can be testifying witnesses who explain these complexities to a judge or jury.
At Powers & Santola, LLP, we know how critical expert witnesses can be in proving causation and assessing damages in wrongful death cases. We have a network of experts we rely on who can build credibility and trust, often giving our clients the edge they need at trial to secure a favorable outcome. When you work with our personal injury law firm, you gain access to leading experts in various fields. Contact our wrongful death attorneys today to learn more about how an expert witness may help your case.
Types of Expert Witnesses in Wrongful Death Cases
Expert witnesses can provide unbiased testimony that is based on objective testimony to strengthen a case. Their contributions can assist in demonstrating negligence, proving financial responsibility, and accurately assessing damages to which grieving families are entitled.
Various experts can lend credibility to your case. Each expert brings with them a unique perspective. Depending on the circumstances, one or more of the following expert witnesses may help with your case:
Medical Experts
Medical experts can help explain the injuries the victim sustained before death. Their testimony can provide a causal link between the defendant’s actions and the resulting death, establishing the basis for a wrongful death claim.
Various individuals may be medical experts, including forensic pathologists and medical examiners who may perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Doctors and other medical professionals can also testify about the extent of a victim’s injuries and how they led to their death.
Medical experts review medical records and other evidence to connect the accident to the fatal injuries. They may be able to provide clarity about the chain of events that led to your loved one’s demise. They may also be able to testify about the pain and suffering your loved one endured prior to their death.
Medical experts can also explain complex medical concepts to the judge or jury. In New York, cases alleging medical malpractice must be accompanied by a certificate of merit that the records have been reviewed by a qualified medical expert who concluded that the case is meritorious .
Accident Reconstruction Experts
Accident reconstructionists use data and evidence to create visual representations of how accidents occurred. Computer models use this objective evidence to provide unbiased representations that are then shared with insurance companies, judges, and juries to illustrate the chain of events. These experts can assist in various types of cases, including truck accidents, aviation accidents, and mass transit accidents.
Accident reconstruction specialists take various forms of data and evidence to create events, including:
- The type, location, and intensity of damage to vehicles
- Skid marks
- Road debris
- Braking information
- Data stored in event data recorders
- Police reports
- Witness statements
Their careful analysis can help establish liability and prove how someone else’s negligence caused the accident that killed your loved one.
Engineering Experts
Engineering experts can examine vehicles or structures involved in the fatal accident. They can testify about problems that contributed to the accident, such as structural failures or machinery malfunctions. This analysis may help prove that a defect or safety breach led to the fatal injury. Rather than presenting only the emotional aspect of the situation, these experts rely on unbiased assessments that can help support your wrongful death claim and enhance its credibility.
Vocational Experts
Vocational experts can help estimate the financial harm your family will suffer because of the fatal accident. They consider the victim’s age, health, industry, education, work history, skills, occupation, the prevailing job market, and other factors to estimate their lifetime earning capacity. This figure can then be used in negotiations or award assessments to estimate the family’s loss of financial support and benefits.
Vocational experts have expertise in the labor market. They can consider your loved one’s credentials and compare them to similarly-situated individuals to estimate these losses. This careful analysis can help calculate the full extent of these financial losses.
Economic Experts
While vocational expert witnesses consider the long-term earning capacity losses, economic experts can consider all the economic losses a family will endure due to the wrongful death. This helps to better prepare a claim for maximum compensation.
Financial experts may assess various economic damages the family may be able to recover, such as:
- Lost income
- Lost earning capacity
- Loss of employment benefits
- Medical expenses
- Funeral costs
- Burial experts
- Costs of replacement services, such as childcare, housekeeping, and landscaping
- Other financial losses
Life Care Planners
In some situations, the victim may have suffered severe injuries before their death. Life care planners can testify about the victim’s injuries, pain and suffering, medical needs, and care requirements to better help determine the damages to which the family is entitled.
Mental Health Professionals
Losing a loved one in a tragic accident can cause lasting psychological harm. Mental health professionals and psychological experts can provide expert testimony about the emotional impact the surviving family members are feeling to help determine future medical needs for mental health services and non-economic damages such as:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Psychological trauma
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Grief
Their compassionate insights can help the judge and jury understand the survivors’ intangible losses.
Other Expert Witnesses
Depending on your case, your wrongful death lawyer may recommend working with other experts. There are many types of specialists who work in various fields who may be able to assist with your claim. Broadly, these experts may be retained to do one or more of the following:
- Prove the cause of death – Expert witnesses may use scientific data, medical examination, accident reconstruction, or other reliable means to determine the victim’s cause of death. This can help narrow down who is legally responsible.
- Clarify technical issues – Experts may be able to clarify complex issues related to liability. They can rely on their experience and careful analysis to help aid the court’s understanding.
- Establish damages – Expert witnesses may be able to provide support for a family’s damage claims. They may be able to help determine the damages the family is entitled to receive and estimate their value.
Other experts who may be able to assist in your case and their role may include:
- Product safety analysts – Product safety analysts can evaluate defective products and determine if non-compliance with safety standards contributed to the accident.
- Forensic pathologists – Forensic pathologist experts can help determine the cause of death by detailed examinations and clarify that the death was a result of the defendant’s negligence.
- Toxicology experts – Toxicology experts can testify about the effect alcohol, drugs, or other substances had on the defendant.
- Phone records experts – Phone records experts may be able to testify about the defendant or their employee using a cell phone at the time of the accident.
Using various expert witnesses with specialized knowledge in their respective fields may help strengthen your legal claim.
Choosing and Preparing Witnesses for Your Case
At Powers & Santola, LLP, our experienced attorneys can carefully analyze your case, determine which experts we should hire, select the right expert witnesses, and prepare them for the legal process ahead. We focus on presenting a strong claim that is backed by the specialized knowledge and training expert witnesses provide.
Selecting the right witness is critical to the potential success of your case. Our attorneys identify expert witnesses who:
- Have strong backgrounds and are well respected in their field
- Have ample experience, education, publications, and certifications
- Can provide the most valuable insights
- Clearly communicate complex topics
- Have a history of providing consistent testimony in previous cases who can withstand scrutiny during cross-examination
- Can challenge the defense’s expert witnesses’ findings
We employ a rigorous vetting process to ensure that we only use the most qualified experts who can provide significant contributions to the case. We verify experts’ credentials, education, and professional experience, examine prior testimony and outcomes of cases involving similar legal issues, and thoroughly interview witnesses.
After we hire experts, we work closely with them, helping them prepare for the road ahead so they feel comfortable and confident when testifying. Our expert witnesses thoroughly review all relevant information, use trusted scientific methodologies to reach conclusions, and prepare reports that help explain these conclusions.
This process also involves preparing witnesses for cross-examination. We identify possible questions that may arise and prepare them on how to address them with effective counter-arguments.
Challenges and Limitations of Working with Expert Witnesses
While expert witnesses can play a critical role in a wrongful death case, there are challenges and limitations you should be aware of. Each jurisdiction has unique rules on certifying experts for testimony. You need a lawyer who understands these complexities and knows how to properly vet expert witnesses.
The first hurdle your wrongful death lawyer will need to overcome is whether your expert’s testimony can be admitted. The opposing party may challenge their credentials or methodologies. Assuming this testimony is admitted, your expert witness will need to be able to explain complex technical or scientific concepts to laypeople. If the expert uses language that is confusing, they may not help the case or could even harm it.
Additionally, the expert witness will need to be prepared to provide testimony that is consistent with your case strategy. At the same time, they must be able to present as an unbiased witness, which can be a tricky line to walk. They must be able to respond honestly and professionally to aggressive cross-examination.
How an Experienced Personal Injury Lawyer Can Help with Expert Witnesses
At Powers & Santola, we understand how crucial it is to work with expert witnesses when the case calls for it. We can help you navigate the legal process and handle all aspects related to working with expert witnesses, including:
- Selecting well-respected and highly qualified expert witnesses
- Properly vetting the background and case history of expert witnesses
- Ensuring the expert’s methods and conclusions are scientifically sound
- Reviewing reports from expert witnesses to ensure we understand them and the methodologies the expert used to reach their conclusions
- Preparing expert witnesses for examination and cross-examination
- Using visual aids, recreations, charts, diagrams, and state-of-the-art technology to help the expert reach the judge and jury better
When you hire our firm, we handle all aspects of your case, including managing relations and interactions with expert witnesses.
Contact Our Wrongful Death and Accident Attorneys Today for a Free Consultation
Pursuing a wrongful death claim is about a lot more than securing compensation. It’s about holding the negligent parties responsible for their actions and honoring your loved one’s memory. Successful wrongful death claims may hinge on the ability to prove one or more elements of your claim, and expert witnesses can offer credibility and trust.
Our law firm can guide you compassionately throughout the legal process. We protect your rights so you can focus on healing. We are dedicated to helping your family achieve justice and holding the responsible parties accountable for the unimaginable harm you’ve suffered. Contact Powers & Santola, LLP for a free case review where we can discuss how we can help.
Related: How Life Insurance May Impact a Wrongful Death Claim in New York
