An expert witness is a professional expert who by the virtue of training, education or experience has specialized knowledge about a particular subject such that people legally seek for his or her opinion on facts or evidence provided in a trial. The expert is also known as a professional witness and is believed to have more knowledge about his main subject than the average person. The professional witness is faced with the following responsibilities:
An expert witness is required by the tribunal or court to deliver expert opinion in relation to the trial at hand. Every expert witness has an area of specialty and each is called upon when the facts and evidence produced in the trial matches his or her expertise. There are medical expert witnesses who are well versed in the medical arena. There are also corporate professional experts to handle the corporate affairs and so on. Expert accounting witnesses are usually forensic accounting specialists who can write reports or give evidence on complex financial matters. The expert’s opinion assists the court to make the right decision when making the judgment. The expert is therefore required to be independent and resist any external influences. In particular they should make any opinion independently.
The professional witness also provides expert evidence with regard to the case. When the liability involved is small, the expert evidence steps in as the possible way out of the predicament. Supported by relevant research and detailed analysis, expert reports presented in a trial may go a long way in exonerating or condemning a suspect. Medical expert evidence may be very useful where child abuse on infants is involved and cause of death may be disputed.
An expert witness may be instructed to conduct joint instructions where the parties involved instruct the professional witness through their respective attorneys. The expert witness then submits a joint report that details the area of contention; the points of agreement and disagreement. This assists the court in the ruling.
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