EXPERT WITNESS – INJURY CLAIM

What is an Expert Witness

An expert witness is a person who is called upon by the judge or by the parties to litigation to give a specialist opinion. Expert witnesses come from many different disciplines and are available to give evidence on a wide range of matters. That opinion is usually valued by the court on the basis of the expert witnesses experience or formal qualifications. It is however not unusual for two or more expert witnesses to have different views and this often happens when a claimant’s allegations which are supported by one expert witness are disputed by an expert witness who represents the defendant. When this type of dispute occurs it is up to the judge to decide which expert witness he prefers and he may do this on the basis of his own experience, by consideration of the relevant experience and expertise of the two specialist expert witnesses or on the basis of how logical each expert was in presentation of an opinion.

Hired Gun or Independent Expert Witness?

Ensuring the independence of an expert witness is no easy matter as some medical specialists were, in the past, often known to be either pro-claimant or pro-defendant which was not surprising given the amount of money changing hands when tens of thousands of instructions for medical evidence with subsequent well paid expert witness attendance requirements were made annually by both solicitors acting for claimants and insurers acting for defendants. This issue is now largely resolved for medical evidence in personal injury compensation claims by a requirement that the parties agree just one medical practitioner per discipline to provide the expert evidence which is difficult to dispute by either side as the expert witness was employed on an agreed basis.

No Win No Fee Compensation Claims

If you have suffered personal injury in an accident you should consult a solicitor as soon as possible. In order to make a compensation claim the accident must have occurred within the last three years and have been caused as a result of negligence by another person. Many solicitors offer a no win no fee service which minimises the individual’s financial risk however the no win no fee scheme offered by this firm goes much further and can be summed up as 'win or lose no charge - compensation paid in full'. If you use our claims service there is no financial risk whatsoever and you are paid 100% of your compensation with no deductions.