What is an expert witness?

An expert witness is someone who is called upon in a court of law to give their professional opinion on a specific matter. Expert witnesses are typically people with specialized knowledge and experience related to the case at hand, such as medical professionals, researchers, engineers, and other similar professionals. For example, a medical expert witness may be called upon in a medical malpractice trial to testify about the medical procedures or standards of care. Similarly, an engineering expert may be called upon to testify on a matter involving the design of a building or technical device. In many cases, the opinions of an expert witness are critical to establishing facts in a case and proving or disproving certain claims. Because of this, judges in Washington typically consider expert testimony from a witness who is deemed qualified and credible. These qualifications include knowledge, skill, experience, training, and education in the field of expertise relevant to the case, and judges must decide the reliability of an expert’s testimony. The testimony of an expert witness is usually not considered as strong as other forms of evidence that may be presented in court, such as physical evidence or eye-witness testimony.

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