The Injury Brokers: An Empirical Profile of Medical Expert Witnesses in Personal Injury Litigation

Abstract

In the civil justice system, medical expert witnesses act as brokers of what qualifies as legally recognized and compensable injury. Despite the central importance of their role, and continuing debate over the use of expert evidence, remarkably little empirical evidence is available about who medical experts are and what they do. This article reports findings from a study that built a detailed empirical profile of nearly 3000 instances of medical expert witness testimony, drawing from a sample of transport accident compensation cases in Victoria, Australia.

Keywords: civil justice, personal injury litigation

JEL Classification: K00, K39