Engineering Expert Witness: What You Should Know

By Andrew Stevens


Many attorneys are of the opinion that having an expert witness in a case can help them in the case regardless of the side they are on. Their argument is based on the fact that an engineering expert witness can help the jury and judge understand the technicalities of a case. He or she can help those that need to make a judgment on the case understand the case beyond the legal theory.

An expert witness is usually defined as a person who has a lot of education regarding a particular subject that relates to a case more than the average person. In most cases, this is a professional with special skills who can evaluate and assess a case better especially because of his or her specialty.

An engineer acting as an expert witness needs to be accepted by the court. He or she should be in a position to testify under oath regarding the technical details of a case. Thereafter provide his or her opinion or conclusion about the matter in question.

The expert witness should be ready to accept the opinions that may be derived from his or her testimony. That is why it is important for him or her to have enough information regarding the case being determined. This allows the professional to provide and draw a conclusion that is valid for the case.

The expert witness is never allowed to argue any facts regarding the case. He or she is also not allowed to provide any evidence of the case. This is a task left to the other witnesses or even the police. He or she is only allowed to clarify the technicalities and help the judge or jury understand the matters in the case better.

In most court scenarios, both sides of the case, whether the defense or prosecution will bring in an expert witness to support either side. The professionals need to be loyal to their knowledge regarding the technology rather than either side in the case. Their work is to help the judge and jury get an accurate assessment of the technical matter in the case. The jury or judge will thereafter determine if the technical witness was helpful in analyzing the facts of the case.

For one to qualify as an engineer expert witness, he or she must have a strong technical relationship to the technical matters in a case. Many attorneys contend that the best expert witnesses are those that have technical experience in addition to their technical education. An academic witness may have the theory needed but would not be ideal if he or she has never been outside a classroom.

The defense and prosecution attorney has the discretion of engaging any expert they think will help them win the case. Once the attorney identifies the expert witness, he or she must get the qualifications and all credentials for the expert to present them to court before the witness can testify. The judge and jury will need this information to be able to allow the opinion of the expert witness to be used to determine the judgment.




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