Car accident cases can be highly complex and cause much contention. If a dispute arises from an accident, such as how the accident happened, liability, or the value of a claim, and that cannot be resolved, then a lawyer on behalf of the injured person would file a complaint. If the complaint is filed in the District of Columbia, it’s filed in Superior Court. Roger Gelb, an experienced car accident attorney, could help with all elements of a car accident claim. He can walk you through the car accident trial process in DC and help you seek compensation for your injuries.
When there is a trial, or the case goes to trial, each side is permitted to give an opening statement; although not required to, the plaintiff goes first. That is because the plaintiff has the burden of proof so that the defendant may provide an opening statement, and then the plaintiff can rebut the defendant’s opening statement.
The car accident trial process ends in DC with closing statements. Like the opening statement, either side can give a closing statement, although it is not required. A closing statement is an argument and not necessarily proof. Both present the closing statement and because the burden is on the plaintiff, he will deliver the closing arguments first, then the defense after there is a short rebuttable by the plaintiff side if they would like.
The car accident trial process in DC can be slightly different when multiple defendants exist. Various defendants are involved in a case for a variety of reasons. There may be more than one person or entity at fault in an accident case. On the other hand, there may be more than one party at fault in an accident case. For example, a person could be stopped and rear-ended in a car accident.
That vehicle that rear-ended the injured party may be rear-ended and then pushed into the car, causing a second impact. In that case, there are two defendants. Both of them are at fault presumably equally, although depending on the amount of damage and the extensive damage in both collisions. It would be up to a finder of fact, the judge, or a jury to determine if the defendants should split the judgment.
A typical trial on an automobile accident case with soft tissue injuries, meaning no broken bones, no scarring, and no surgery, the trial itself is typically two days. The judge would set aside their calendar to allow time to try the case. The first day is picking the jury if it is a jury trial. That process is known as voir dire.
The second half of the first day may involve opening statements and some direct examinations. The second day would be the balance of the direct examinations, cross-examinations, and closing arguments, and then time for the jury to deliberate about the case, which could extend into the third day, of course, or even longer. Still, typically, it should last up to that.
A plaintiff’s attorney accident lawyer would have the expert witness testify about the plaintiff’s injuries in an effort to have a jury or a judge to better understand the extent of the injuries, the necessity of the treatment, and the reasonableness of the medical bills. The expert would also discuss – if it’s a medical expert would also discuss whether or not there’s any permanent injury and of course, the defense would have their own expert which could contradict the plaintiff’s expert.
It meets the client’s burden of proof to show that, again in the case of a medical expert to show that the treatment that was rendered was reasonable and necessary and again whether or not there’s a permanent injury, it would be up to an expert to testify about that permanency. A skilled car accident attorney could determine what type of expert would be useful in your case. Reach out to learn about the various types of expert witnesses in DC car accident cases.
An expert witness is somebody who is qualified as an expert by the court. If the claimant is injured in an accident and the attorney will need to consider which type of expert would be needed in the case and accepted by the courts. In order to do that, the attorney has to ask the expert witness a series of questions about their education, their occupation, how long they have had the job, whether they have testified in this capacity, or in the capacity as an expert before. The defense would be entitled to cross-examine the expert about their status and about their training. The defense could accept the expert as an expert without getting into the qualifications.
The two types of expert witnesses that would most typically be involved in an accident case would be medical testimony, experts regarding the medical injuries of the claimant, and also experts regarding the liability or who is at fault in an accident. Medical experts would include medicals doctors and other medical personnel. Liability experts would include accident reconstruction experts and again expert testimony, if a witness is qualified as an expert and accepted as an expert by the court, that expert is entitled to provide an opinion and other witnesses are not.
As you go through the car accident trial process in DC, you may notice that the expert witness has an existing relationship with plaintiff’s counsel or the client. The expert witness is allowed to have an existing relationship with the injured claimant. Usually, an expert witness in the medical capacity is a treating physician, although not always. It is not a problem that they have a previous relationship.
The weight of expert witnesses in a case can vary between cases and how much weight an expert’s testimony is given would depend on the expert. Additionally, the weight of a testimony may depend on how he or she testified and how the judge or the jury received that expert testimony.
Insurance companies typically rely on a small group of orthopedic surgeons in a plaintiff’s accident to testify about my client’s injuries. These small groups of doctors that testify on a regular basis at trials and depositions involving personal injury in the District of Columbia are paid a great deal of money by these insurance companies to come and testify on a regular basis. Fortunately, expert witnesses could also help the injured claimant in a car accident case. You should reach out to a knowledgeable car accident attorney to learn about how expert witnesses could help your case.
The most crucial factor in any case is liability. The plaintiff and their attorney are burdened to show that somebody else is negligent and thus liable for causing their injuries in an auto accident case. Once they establish a liability, they have to offer the damages sustained by the plaintiff. A seasoned attorney at Gelb & Gelb P.C. could help make this process easier. They could handle every legal element of your claim and help you get compensation. Schedule a consultation to learn more about car accident trials in DC.
Gelb & Gelb, P.C.
N/a
Copyright © 2025 Gelb & Gelb, P.C. All rights reserved.