When Do You Need an Expert Witness in a Georgia Personal Injury Lawsuit?
A personal injury lawsuit requires the plaintiff to prove the defendant’s negligence. In most cases, this can be done without the need of an expert witness. To give a simple hypothetical example, if a car runs a red light and slams into another car at an intersection, you do not need an expert in reconstructing accidents to testify as to the cause of the crash.
Expert testimony is generally required only in cases where the trier of fact (a jury or a judge sitting without a jury) involves specialized knowledge beyond that of a layperson. A common example is medical malpractice. Georgia law requires malpractice plaintiffs to offer testimony from at least one expert, i.e., someone who practices in the same medical specialty as the defendant, who can explain to the trier of fact how the defendant’s actions deviated from the accepted standard of professional care.
Georgia Appeals Court Revives Slip-and-Fall Case Against Atlanta Hospital
A recent Georgia Court of Appeals case, Willis v. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc., helps to demonstrate the limits of when expert testimony is necessary in a personal injury lawsuit. The plaintiff in this case visited a local emergency room to seek treatment for her daughter. While leaving the ER, however, the plaintiff slipped and fell on a hallway floor, sustaining an injury to her left knee.
The plaintiff subsequently sued the hospital, alleging it was negligent in maintaining its premises. Now, this was a slip-and-fall case, as opposed to medical malpractice, so normally you would not expect the plaintiff to provide expert testimony to establish negligence. But the hospital argued expert testimony was necessary due to the nature of the plaintiff’s injury.
The year before the plaintiff’s slip-and-fall at the hospital, she was injured in an unrelated car accident. That crash resulted in damage to her left knee that required extensive treatment. According to the plaintiff, her knee had fully recovered by the time of her slip-and-fall. B
But the hospital produced expert testimony from an orthopedic surgeon who said that any issues with the plaintiff’s left knee following her ER visit were likely the lingering effects of her car accident. Since the plaintiff failed to produce her own expert testimony to refute this opinion, the trial court granted the hospital’s motion to dismiss the case at summary judgment.
The Court of Appeals, however, said that was inappropriate. The plaintiff’s testimony, supported by medical evidence, established that “her pre-existing knee pain had resolved through treatment and therapy.” She did not require expert testimony to argue that she suffered a new injury, or at least aggravated the older injury, when she fell at the hospital. As such, the Court of Appeals reversed the summary judgment order and returned the case to the lower court for trial.
Contact an Atlanta Slip and Fall Lawyer Today
Orthopedic injuries following a slip-and-fall accident can be life changing. That is why it is important to hold negligent property owners responsible for causing such preventable falls. If you need legal advice or representation from a qualified Atlanta slip and fall lawyer, contact Morain & Buckelew, LLC, today at (404) 448-3146 to schedule a free consultation.
Source:
scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6774142414332998486