Witness testimony is some of the most important evidence you will need to prove your personal injury case and collect compensation for your injuries. A fact witness is anyone who witnessed what happened leading up to, during, or after the incident that caused the injury. Another type of witness is the expert witness. These are generally paid professionals who provide opinion testimony required to prove the case.
Fact Witnesses
Fact witnesses are critical to proving all kinds of personal injury cases, including car crashes, slip, trip and fall injuries and any other case in which another person’s negligence led to an injury. In the case of a car crash, key witnesses include anyone who saw the accident or negligent action of the at-fault driver first-hand. Because facts can be remembered differently by different people, it’s important that all witnesses be identified.
If possible, after the accident, and only after the scene is safe, you should try to collect identification and contact information from as many witnesses as possible. This will permit your Irvine CA personal injury lawyer to conduct an appropriate investigation and gather the evidence and testimony necessary to prove your claim in court. Witnesses include not only strangers who saw the incident happen, but any friends or family members who may have been with you and can also provide first-hand information regarding the incident. Important witnesses also include people who can provide testimony concerning the extent of your injuries, such as doctors, chiropractors, or other medical professionals. Family members are also able to provide testimony and evidence concerning how injuries have affected you and your daily life.
Expert Witnesses
Another important type of witness in many personal injury cases is the expert witness. Expert witnesses are generally experienced professionals, such as doctors, accountants and accident reconstruction professionals, who are able to provide professional opinions in court. Expert witnesses are generally paid and can be quite expensive to hire and use. Even so, experts are often a critical part of personal injury cases and are needed to provide evidence such as how a car crash affected the victim’s body and how the victim is likely to be affected in the future. Expert witnesses are often called upon to testify about financial matters, such as calculating loss of income in the future and the amount of future medical costs. Experts may also be called upon to testify about how a crash occurred and why.
Generally, your lawyer will be the one to determine what experts are necessary to prove your case and will evaluate and hire necessary experts.
Thanks to our friend and blog author, Corbett Williams of Law Offices of Corbett H. Williams, for is insight into important witnesses in personal injury cases.