March 11, 2025
Expert witnesses play a crucial role in North Carolina wrongful death cases by providing specialized knowledge and unbiased opinions to help establish liability and damages. Their testimony can clarify complex issues for the judge and jury, influencing the outcome of the case.
Explaining Complex Concepts: Expert witnesses can explain complex concepts and provide unbiased opinions backed by facts and scientific evidence relevant to the case. They offer insights that might not be available through other sources, such as technical information about how a product works or detailed analysis of medical records and procedures.
Establishing Liability: By offering opinions on whether someone acted negligently or recklessly and whether that negligence or recklessness resulted in another person’s death, expert witnesses can help establish liability in a wrongful death case beyond any reasonable doubt.
Determining the Cause of Death: Medical examiners or forensic pathologists may perform an independent investigation to determine the cause of death and establish a clear connection between fatal injuries and the accident.
Quantifying Damages: Vocational experts can assess the financial impact of the death by evaluating the future earnings the deceased would have contributed to the family. They provide an objective assessment of the emotional impact and support the case by quantifying the full extent of the damages.
Liability Experts: These experts help prove that the defendant was responsible for the incident that caused the death. They may specialize in accident reconstruction, biomechanical engineering, medicine, or physics. For example, in a car accident case, an accident reconstructionist might review the facts of the collision and offer an opinion about how the accident occurred.
Causation Experts: Causation experts are needed if there is a dispute about how the deceased actually died. In medical malpractice cases, a medical expert like a pathologist or coroner may be necessary to establish the cause of death.
Damage Experts: These experts address the issue of damages. They help uncover and explain certain evidence to increase the likelihood of a successful result.
Medical Experts: Medical experts, such as doctors, may be called upon to explain medical procedures and whether they met the accepted standards of care, especially in medical malpractice cases.
Financial Experts: Accountants or economists can offer analysis of financial disputes, damages, or other economic losses.
Choosing the right expert witness involves ensuring they are the right person for the case. A skilled attorney can help determine if an expert could be a beneficial witness, examining their prior depositions and testimony to ensure they make no conflicting statements.
If you need assistance with a wrongful death claim, you can contact Hall & Dixon at 725 E. Trade Street Suite 115 Charlotte, NC 28202, or call (704) 993-6825. They are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Read: How to Establish Negligence and Liability in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
