Expert Witness
An "expert witness" is someone with expertise in a particular area who is called to testify during litigation / trial. A "fact witness" is a person whose testimony is limited to giving facts. An "expert witness," by contrast, is allowed to give his or her professional opinion.
An expert witness provides an Expert Witness Report after performing an inspection. The goal is to provide a report so convincing that the opposition will decide to settle out of court, saving the client the cost of continued litigation. While this may be one outcome the opposing party may still continue to go forward with court proceedings, if this does occur as an expert witness can be called, for a fee, to the stand to testify about what we saw and our opinion of the conditions found.
Although an expert witness may be hired by either a defendant or a plaintiff, or by the court, s/he is to be a neutral third party. This means that the inspector has no interest in the outcome of the case, and his or her testimony is unbiased.
An expert witness provides an Expert Witness Report after performing an inspection. The goal is to provide a report so convincing that the opposition will decide to settle out of court, saving the client the cost of continued litigation. While this may be one outcome the opposing party may still continue to go forward with court proceedings, if this does occur as an expert witness can be called, for a fee, to the stand to testify about what we saw and our opinion of the conditions found.
Although an expert witness may be hired by either a defendant or a plaintiff, or by the court, s/he is to be a neutral third party. This means that the inspector has no interest in the outcome of the case, and his or her testimony is unbiased.
