In my practice as a personal injury trial attorney, I have learned that it’s important to know when you need an expert. I can read a traffic crash report, speak to witnesses and the investigating police officers, and analyze photographs, but an accident-reconstruction engineer is the only person truly capable of piecing it all together, synthesizing the data and telling me what really happened. In a slip-and-fall case, I may be able to conduct a similar investigation, but only a true building engineer can break down the floor’s slip-resistance and the potential building code violations.