could your injuries be covered under personal injury law?could your injuries be covered under personal injury law?

The thrill of riding your motorcycle while enjoying the scenery and feeling the wind rush through your hair does not come without risks. According to estimates made by the federal government in 2013, motorcyclists are 26 times more likely to get into fatal accidents than drivers. If you're lucky enough to have only sustained injuries, there's a good chance that your injuries will be rather severe, and you will require extensive medical treatments in order to recover. Due to this, it's crucial that you file a personal injury claim with a motorcycle accident attorney in order to receive the compensation you need to handle the crisis ahead. To support your claims, your attorney will recommend hiring a medical expert witness to testify on your behalf. Here are 3 ways you can gauge the expert's credibility. 

Look at Area of Research and Medical Study

Not all expert medical witnesses have the same amount of experience and field of interest. While each medical professional may be able to provide insight into the amount of medical treatment you need or the repercussions involved with the injuries you sustained, consider the type of injury that you have sustained and whether the medical expert witness specializes in that field. For example, if you broke your foot, you would want to hire a podiatrist, as he or she will be most familiar with available treatments, the success rates of each treatment and the costs involved with a full recovery. On the other hand, if the injuries you sustained severely damaged your nerves, you should seek a neurologist only.

On top of considering whether the professional specializes in the injuries you've sustained, you should also consider whether the expert is still an important researcher in the field. A professional who is still constantly doing research and receiving grants will be fully aware of any new types of medical treatments or rehabilitation recommended at the moment for the injuries you've sustained, along with the expected costs involved. This way, you can be sure that you'll receive sufficient compensation to pay for various types of medical treatments that may aid in your recovery. A expert medical witness who does not specialize in your field may not be able to accurately portray the amount of medical treatments you'll need nor how costly these treatments can be.

Whether Medical Practice Specifically Handles Motor Accident Injuries

Although having a medical expert witness that specializes in treating the type of injuries you've sustained is important, you should also further seek someone who owns a practice that specializes in motor accident injuries. These professionals see first-hand how the accident has affected the victims in the long run, and will be able to accurately determine how difficult a full recovery may be based on the amount of cases that they are subjected to on a regular basis. 

The medical expert witnesses may be able to provide additional details as to how the accident may have occurred based on your injuries. For example, if your foot was twisted a certain way, the medical expert witnesses may be able to deduce the angle of impact or the speed of the other vehicles that were involved in the accident.

Length of Time Specializing in Treating Motor Accident Injuries

Like all specialties, professionals that have been practicing longer in the field have more experience dealing with complicated situations. They will have an easier time explaining various medical concepts to judges and juries, as they have already done so multiple times before. 

You also want to consider how many times the expert may have reviewed other legal cases and testified on the injured parties' behalf. At times, your attorney will even help you review the transcript of previous cases just to make sure that the expert medical witness you have chosen is everything you wanted and more.

Conclusion

As medical expert witnesses generally charge hefty fees for their services, you want to make sure that you are getting the most out of your money by hiring someone who will definitely improve your position. Your motorcycle accident attorney may be able to recommend several possible candidates for you to choose from. Check out a firm like Scherline And Associates for more information.