Personal injury cases often involve questions that cannot be answered by photographs, medical records, or eyewitness testimony alone. When an issue requires specialized knowledge, an expert may help explain what happened, why an injury occurred, and how that injury may affect a person in the future.
The types of experts involved depend on the facts of the case. A straightforward motor vehicle accident may require little or no expert testimony, while medical malpractice, defective product, construction accident, or catastrophic injury cases may involve several different experts.
What Does Massachusetts Law Say About Expert Testimony?
The Massachusetts Guide to Evidence § 702 summarizes the law governing expert testimony in Massachusetts. An expert may testify when qualified by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education and when the specialized testimony will help a judge or jury understand the evidence or decide an issue in the case. The testimony must also be supported by sufficient facts or data and reliable principles or methods.
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has addressed the reliability of expert evidence in several cases, most notably Commonwealth v. Lanigan, 419 Mass. 15 (1994). The Court established what is commonly called the Daubert-Lanigan standard, under which a judge serves as a gatekeeper in determining whether the reasoning or methodology supporting certain expert testimony is sufficiently reliable to be presented to the jury.
Experts may be used to address liability, causation, the extent of a plaintiff’s injuries, future treatment, lost earning capacity, and other damages.
Medical Experts
Medical experts are common in serious personal injury cases and may include specialists in orthopedics, neurology, neurosurgery, rehabilitation medicine, emergency medicine, or other relevant fields.
They may explain the plaintiff’s diagnosis, whether an accident caused or aggravated an injury, whether the condition is permanent, and what future treatment may be required.
Medical experts are also critical in most medical malpractice cases. In Harlow v. Chin, 405 Mass. 697 (1989), the Supreme Judicial Court explained that expert testimony is generally required to establish that a physician’s negligence more likely than not caused the patient’s injury. Expert testimony may also be used to establish the applicable standard of care, as discussed in Palandjian v. Foster, 446 Mass. 100 (2006).
Accident Reconstruction Experts
When the circumstances of a motor vehicle or trucking accident are disputed, reconstruction experts may analyze vehicle damage, roadway evidence, photographs, video, event data recorder information, and scene measurements.
They may offer opinions about speed, braking, visibility, impact forces, and how a collision occurred.
Engineering and Safety Experts
Engineering and safety experts may be used in cases involving defective products, unsafe property conditions, construction accidents, machinery, structural failures, or fires.
They may evaluate product design, building components, dangerous conditions, jobsite practices, equipment use, fall protection, and applicable safety standards.
Vocational and Economic Experts
When an injury affects a person’s ability to work, vocational experts may evaluate education, employment history, physical limitations, transferable skills, and future job opportunities.
Economists may then calculate lost earning capacity, projected wages, benefits, and other financial losses.
Life Care Planners
For catastrophic injuries, a life care planner may estimate the cost of future medical and personal care needs, including treatment, rehabilitation, medication, equipment, home modifications, and attendant care.
Other Specialized Experts
Depending on the case, other experts may include:
- Biomechanical engineers
- Fire investigators
- Architects or building code experts
- Trucking industry experts
- Human factors experts
- Toxicologists
- Mental health professionals
The key is not the number of experts involved, but whether specialized knowledge is needed to explain a disputed issue or establish the full extent of the plaintiff’s injuries and losses.
What Role Do Experts Play in a Personal Injury Case?
Selecting an expert involves more than finding someone with the appropriate professional title. The expert’s qualifications should match the particular issue in the case, and the opinions offered must be supported by the evidence and sound methodology.
In complex personal injury and wrongful death cases, the right experts can help a jury understand technical evidence that might otherwise be difficult to evaluate. Their testimony may help establish how an accident happened, connect the defendant’s conduct to the plaintiff’s injuries, and explain how those injuries may affect the plaintiff and their family in the years ahead.
SUGARMAN has decades of experience representing individuals and families in complex cases requiring all types of specialized experts. If you or someone you love has been injured and you would like to speak to an attorney, call 617-542-1000, email or fill out our contact form.