Car accident cases aren’t always straightforward. There can be complicated matters of law, liability, and evidence that make building a claim and negotiating a favorable settlement difficult. With one opportunity to recover compensation for medical care, lost paychecks, and other crash-related damages, you have to make the most of it.
Hiring a Round Rock accident lawyer is a great first step. Not only do you get an experienced legal advocate in your corner, but you benefit from their network of trusted and respected expert witnesses.
Expert witnesses can provide insight, reports, and testimony that take your car accident case to the next level. Their input can take your claim from one that could obtain a moderate settlement to one that could change your life forever.
How Do Experts Help Strengthen a Texas Car Accident Claim?
Experts can be brought in to support a personal injury case in many different ways:
Prove Causation and Liability
When you file a car accident claim in Texas, you can pursue damages from the party responsible for causing your wreck. To win your case, you have to show that the defendant is liable. This typically requires you to show that they were negligent.
Your car accident attorney will coordinate an investigation and work quickly to preserve valuable evidence that can be used to establish causation, fault, and liability.
This might include:
- Photographs of skid marks, tire tracks, and other evidence at the scene
- Damage to vehicles and other physical property
- Vehicle maintenance and inspection reports
- Field sobriety test results
- Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test results
- Photographs of the scene of the collision, including the street(s), intersection, traffic signals, and obstructions
- Video footage of the accident
- Weather reports on the day of the crash
- Police and accident reports
- Witness statements
Experts can apply specialized knowledge to the evidence, draw conclusions, and offer opinions on how and why an accident happened.
For example, a car accident reconstruction specialist might review pictures of vehicle damage and tire tracks at the scene, the accident report, and witness statements to generate a report about the crash. The report would explain or show the precise mechanisms that caused the collision and identify the responsible party or parties.
This accident reconstruction report can be used to strengthen your claim for damages, especially if it corroborates your account of the crash. Without it, it’s your word against another driver’s. With it, it’s harder for the insurance company to dismiss it as untrue.
Sometimes experts can build upon one another to provide valuable input. For example, an accident reconstruction might need to rely on a report generated by a traffic engineer. Independently, each expert’s input might add moderate value to a claim. Together, they can take a case to the next level.
A skilled car accident lawyer in Round Rock will know exactly which experts to bring in and when.
Calculate Damages and Value of Accident Claims
Your claim is worth your economic losses plus the applied value of the difficult life changes you’ve experienced because of your car accident. Some of these damages are straightforward: your current medical bills, the wages you’ve lost out on during your recovery, rehabilitation expenses, and the cost to repair your car.
The value of other damages isn’t as black and white. How much should you receive for future lost wages? How much is your pain and suffering worth?
These issues tend to come down to the projected length of your recovery, how your car accident injuries have (and will continue to) change your quality of life, your age, and your life expectancy. Expert witnesses can be called upon to provide highly specialized knowledge to lend guidance.
For example, medical professionals can shed light on the severity of your injury, traditional recovery timeframes, and what your injury might mean for you long-term. This can help to put a clock on how long you’ll be out of work and how much your treatment might cost once you settle your claim.
Similarly, a psychologist can offer insight into how the crash changed your life and what that means for its overall quality. The bigger the impact on your ability to live your life and enjoy it, the more related non-economic damages may be valued.
Accident attorneys can make these arguments, but experts can strengthen them with professional, credentialed reports and testimony that make them nearly unbeatable.
Dispute Claims of Shared Fault
In Texas, sharing responsibility for a car accident can partially or fully bar recovery of compensation from another driver. When you pursue a claim, it’s common for the insurance company to try to shift blame back to you. Experts can be brought in to dispute claims of contributory fault designed to stand between you and a substantial monetary award.
For example, if the insurance company argues that you were impaired at the time of the crash, a forensic specialist could be brought in to review medical records and, if applicable, breathalyzer tests to dispute those allegations. When arguments are backed by specialized expert opinions and testimony, they carry more weight.
An experienced car accident lawyer knows how to leverage these expert opinions to protect your right to full compensation.
What Types of Expert Witnesses Can Help a Texas Car Accident Case?
It depends on the case. Every crash is unique, and every case will face different challenges in proving causation, liability, and damages.
At Dow Law Firm, our Round Rock car accident attorneys find that the following experts can often offer exceptionally helpful guidance and insight when building an accident claim:
- Accident reconstruction specialist
- Medical professional
- Forensic specialist
- Rehabilitation specialist
- Life care planner
- Vocational rehabilitation specialist
- Career experts
- Traffic engineers
- Biomechanical engineers
- Vehicle experts
- Trucking industry specialists
Experts can be specialized within their field. For example, if you suffer a traumatic brain injury in a car accident, neurologists and/or psychiatrists can be brought in to speak to the highly complicated issues of cognitive function and the potential for long-term impairments.
Where general medical professionals might lack the knowledge required to provide helpful information, specialized professionals won’t. Your car or truck accident lawyer in Round Rock will identify which specific experts are needed based on the unique facts of your case.
Dow Law Firm Works With Skilled Expert Witnesses on Texas Car Accident Cases
Experts aren’t always necessary in car accident cases. However, when they can add value, Dow Law Firm calls them for help.
Our car accident attorneys in Round Rock and throughout the Greater Austin area have strong working relationships with respected experts in a variety of fields and industries. Working together with these specialists often helps us build more powerful, successful claims for crash victims like you.
Contact our car accident lawyers today at (512) 240-9951 to learn more. Your first consultation is free.