What are the role of experts in a Fort Worth, Texas head injury case?

The Role Of Experts In Fort Worth, Texas Head Injury Cases

This is the fourth post in our series on the handling of Fort Worth, Texas head injury cases. Our last article discussed how to determine damages for head trauma. It is important to understand the various ways in which such an injury can impact one’s financial future. In this post we will address another important topic, the roles played by experts in such cases. If you have suffered a concussion, a skull fracture, brain trauma, or some other form of injury due to the negligence of another then it is important that you contact an attorney as soon as possible.

Experts are a crucial part of cases which involve serious harm. To give in-court testimony regarding issues such as future medical care, economic losses, and vocational possibilities, one must have specialized knowledge in the given field. The law does not allow a witness to testify about such matters unless they are considered an expert by the Court. When determining whether one is an expert the Court will consider the witness’ education, work experience, and other factors which may give them specialized knowledge.

Medical experts are crucial to establishing damages in a head injury case. Such harm has serious future consequences such as blurred vision, reduced motor skills, slurred speech, and possibly early onset dementia. A physician will need to testify about the extent of such effects, how long they can expect to last, the types of treatments the victim will likely be subjected to during the coming years (if not the rest of their life), and the cost of such care. Medical professionals will provide this type of information through written reports while the parties are conducting discovery and through testimony at trial.

Vocational and economic experts are also necessary when one has suffered severe head trauma. The types of harm suffered can leave one with a reduced ability to earn a living, if they can work at all. If the victim is permanently disabled, then an economist will offer an opinion as to how much the victim could have earned during their lifetime. In offering this opinion the economist will consider the victim’s age, their education, their work experience, and the lifetime earnings of others with similar characteristics. If the victim can return to work, in reduced capacity, then a vocational specialist will offer opinions about the type of work the victim can perform, the extent to which they need to be retrained, as well as any special accommodations the employer may have to make due to the injury.

If you have suffered a serious head injury then it is important that you hire a firm with the resources necessary to retain such experts. Your attorneys should have substantial experience in handling such matters, should employ a substantial staff, and should have on-staff investigator. Finally, it is important to retain an attorney with the financial backing necessary to deal with the largest of defendants. These traits are necessary regardless of whether you were injured in the Texas counties of Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson, and Wise or the cities of Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Haltom City, Richland Hills, North Richland Hills, Watauga, Grapevine, Colleyville, Southlake, Arlington, Keller, Grand Prairie, Dallas, and Fort Worth.