Forgetting About Terrible Accidents

Posted on: 16 March 2016

Any claims you make in a personal injury case regarding the type and severity of injuries sustained should be corroborated by a medical expert witness. The medical expert witness can provide further insight on your injuries, such as how the injuries affect your quality of living or prevent you from performing certain tasks. For their testimony, you can expect to pay the average medical expert witness approximately $555 per hour of testimony in court. This doesn't include the costs involved with file reviews and deposition. Due to the immense impact a medical expert witness can make on your case, it's crucial that you fully research who you hire. These 3 credentials are particularly important.

Specialty and Popularity of Papers Published

The medical expert witness you hire should specialize in a field of medicine related to the injuries you sustained. For example, if you are experiencing back pain, choose a medical expert witness who specializes on the anatomy of back muscles and the spine. A medical expert witness who is actively doing research in the field will be familiar with the latest discoveries and will be able to provide more information regarding your injuries.

To determine whether a medical expert witness is still researching a particular field, take a look at the scientific papers they have published recently. These papers should be easy to find online. The amount of times that the paper has been cited will also determine how popular the research was in the field, the amount of impact it has on the scientific community and the credibility of the expert.

Teaching Credentials and Community Outreach

A medical expert witness who is well-connected with the community will generally have a better demeanor and be able to better explain himself or herself. If the expert teaches at a local university or college, then there's an even better chance that the expert can adequately explain difficult and hard concepts in a simple manner to a judge or members of the jury who do not have a medical background.

You also want to consider whether the medical expert witness takes part in community service or regularly performs work that requires community outreach. An expert who is well-known by the community and has built a relationship with the community tends to project an image of being more trustworthy and reliable.

Awards and Recognitions Earned

All medical expert witnesses will have a degree in medicine, so simply taking a look at whether your expert has a degree or not is not sufficient for determining his or her talents or skills. In addition, a degree will not tell you how well the expert did in his or her classes. You cannot tell from a degree whether an expert passed by barely making the minimum expectations or by exceeding expectations and surpassing what was expected of him or her. As a result, you should focus your time researching whether the expert has earned any awards or recognition in certain fields of medicine.

Consider the type of award or recognition earned and what that means. Was the expert a leader in revolutionizing certain concepts? Is the award prestigious like a Nobel prize?

Conclusion

You should research the credentials of several medical expert witnesses with a personal injury attorney, such as Charles Aaron PLC, and make a list of who you would be interested in hiring to review your case and testify on your behalf. Having a list of several medical expert witnesses to choose from will give you more flexibility in finding a suitable candidate. Keep in mind that some of the experts you choose might not always be available at the moment to take on your case.