Expert Witness Blog

Construction Site Expert Witness On Marketing Efforts Part 2

Thu, 17 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

In Peaks and Valleys for Expert Witnesses construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

One would initially think slower business might mean cost cutting on safety or reduced staffing causing overworking of employees, and higher productivity demands by management causing haste and a greater margin for error or bad judgment. Moreover, while some of this may occur, these are not the main reasons for a reduction in the retention of experts. When business slows, the incidents of product failure, construction accidents, personal injury, etc. slow with it. It comes down to simple math -- less opportunity equals fewer occurrences.

Experts who have been practicing for several years, through bad or slower than usual economies, report having experienced increased negotiation of expert fees. Attorneys and referral agencies will actively negotiate in an attempt to lower the expert’s hourly fee. “It’s not personal; it’s just business.”

William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company for more than 35 years, specializes in excavation & construction site preparation – earthwork and grading, water mains, sewer installation, trenching, containment, underground utilities, dike repair, heavy equipment rentals. www.siteworkexpert.com

Expert Witnesses In Slip & Fall Cases

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:45:00 -0800

In More effective use of experts in slip-and-fall cases -
The right expert will help you to better prepare the case and win it at trial, attorney David Reinard writes:

We all know slip-and-fall cases are
among the most difficult to win. We also
know that many people get seriously
injured in falls, so we often are called to
consider these cases and we are often
tempted to take them. Some lawyers wisely
use a “no breaky, no takey” rule to determine
whether to even consider accepting a
slip-and-fall (or trip-and-fall) case. And
unless the case has catastrophic injuries,
most lawyers prefer that some theory of
liability is obvious from the get-go.

Assuming you’ve made a decision to
try your luck, you must take every step
possible to make your slip-and-fall case
different from so many others – you have
to make it a winner. And you have to do
that while managing the cost-benefit
analysis you face in every case. One key
to winning a slip-and-and fall case is to
retain the right experts, on the right
issues, and then use them the right way.
(The Advocate Magazine, March 2012)

David Reinard is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a member of ABOTA, and is regularly designated a Super Lawyer. He has tried dozens of cases throughout California.

Insurance Expert On Multistate Regulations

Tue, 15 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

Insurance expert Ty Leverty was in the news reporting that customers pay up to 31% more for insurance when insurance companies have to comply with regulations in more than one state. The University of Iowa professor of finance has also studied how tort reform laws lower insurance premiums and save consumers money, dependent upon where the consumer lives.
Leverty’s paper, “The Cost of Duplicative Regulation: Evidence From Risk Retention Groups,” was published recently in the Journal of Risk and Insurance.

Securities Expert Witness & JP Morgan Chase Loss

Mon, 14 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

Securities expert witness and Columbia Law School professor John Coffee commented this week on JP Morgan Chase & Co.'s $2B loss. The director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School says the JPMorgan loss will incentivize the passage of banking regulations, i.e. limitations similar to the Volcker Rule.

Captive Insurance Expert & Certificate Program

Sun, 13 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

Captive insurance expert Stewart A. Feldman is lecturing at the University of Delaware's Captive Insurance Risk Management Certificate Program, April 18 - June 6, 2012. Feldman, CEO of Capstone Associated Services, Ltd., is an expert on insurance companies established with the objective of insuring risks emanating from their parent group(s).

Construction Site Expert Witness On Marketing Efforts Part 1

Sat, 12 May 2012 19:25:00 -0800

In Peaks and Valleys for Expert Witnesses construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

No matter which field of expertise you specialize in, as an expert witness you will experience peaks and valleys in the number of cases you are retained to opine on in a given year.

This may lead you to question your marketing efforts. And that is not, in and of itself, a bad idea. Your marketing plan should be reviewed every six months anyway. But your marketing program may not be the problem -- it may be the economy. Yes, even expert witness practices are subject to the effects of a bad economy.

Why, however? Let’s take a look at this question in depth. For most businesses, a bad economy or slow economy translates to lower sales and thus lower profits overall. Experts are not exempt from this common phenomenon.

When the economy slows, certain aspects of litigation do, in fact, increase. A case in point is the payment of debt. Business and individuals can have difficulty paying their debts in a bad or slow economy, sometimes resulting in litigation. As a consequence, some experts in the fields of forensic accounting and economics may actually see an increase in their retaining percentage.

Paralegal Knowledge Institute Webinars On Legal Ethics

Fri, 11 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

The Paralegal Knowledge Institute is presenting Practical Legal Ethics (Four Webinars)

Live Webinars Designed Specifically for Paralegals
Every year, more and more paralegals are facing critical ethical decisions and more and more responsibility for alleged negligence. In a litigious society, no one is immune. Knowing what is required and how to identify problems before they happen is vital.

This intensive ethics program will provide you with proactive strategies for spotting and avoiding potential areas of liability. Find out how simple changes to your routine can make ethical legal practices second nature - enroll today!

Confidentiality - Wednesday, May 15th

Conflict of Interest - Wednesday, May 23rd

Unauthorized Practice of Law - Wednesday, May 30th

IOLTA, Overzealousness & Advertising - Wed, June 6th

More information: http://www.paralegalknowledge.com/.

Insurance Expert On FEMA Maps

Thu, 10 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

Insurance expert Robert Desaulniers, who contracts with FEMA, says extra coverage will be required for Newburyport, MA, homes that are now mapped in a higher risk area. The previous maps are from 1985 and over the years, many of the flood insurance maps have become outdated due to urban growth, changes in river flows and coastlines, and even flood mitigation efforts.

Arborist Expert Witness & Auburn University Incident

Wed, 09 May 2012 19:34:00 -0800

Lee County, AL, Circuit Court Judge Jacob A. Walker approved up to $10,000 in state funding for expert witness research and testimony in the bizarre case of a retired Texas state trooper who is charged with poisoning 150-year-old trees on the Auburn University campus. Both a chemist and an arborist expert witness will be working on the defense of Harvey Updyke Jr., a University of Alabama fan who allegedly used the pesticide Tebuthiuron on the old-growth southern live oak trees.

Pathology Expert Witness On Blunt Force Trauma Part 1

Tue, 08 May 2012 14:44:00 -0800

In Pathology of Blunt Force Traumatic Injury, forensic pathology expert witness William A. Cox, MD, writes:

In this article we will review the gross and microscopic appearance of Blunt Force Traumatic Injuries and the mechanisms which causes them. The Blunt Force Traumatic Injuries covered are abrasions, contusions, lacerations, fractures, compression and hemorrhage.
General Concepts
The appearance of blunt force traumatic injuries is determined by the physical characteristics of a moving object, which has an impact on the victim or the nature of the surface, which the moving victim strikes. Whether an impact results in injury is
depended upon its components, one of which is the kinetic energy displaced by the object in motion. This kinetic energy is expressed by the formula MV²/2g, in which M is the weight of the object in pounds, the weight of the object in pounds, V is the velocity in feet per second and g is the acceleration of gravity which is 32 ft. per second. Thus, the ability of an object to induce injury is dependent on its weight and velocity.

Computer Forensics Expert On Recovering Deleted Email Part 1

Mon, 07 May 2012 13:16:00 -0800

In Challenges in Recovering Deleted Email computer forensics expert witness Steve Burgess writes:

Both computer forensics experts and data recovery technicians seek to recover deleted data. Data recovery is primarily interested in bringing back files, while computer forensics tends to dig deeper, looking not just for deleted documents, but also for metadata (data about data - such as file attributes, descriptions, dates, and other information) and meaningful snippets of unrecoverable files. One area of particular interest is email.

When most documents are written to a computer's hard disk, each newly created document has its own directory entry (what the user sees as a listing in a folder). If a file has been deleted, but has not been overwritten by another document, the recovery process is a relatively trivial part of e-discovery or of data recovery. But when the data of interest is from deleted email, the discovery process is likely to differ significantly from that of data recovery. Individual emails are stored differently than individual files. Different types of email programs store data differently on the user's hard disk and require different schemes for finding useful information. As a result, the deletion of emails and recovering of deleted emails differs not only from that for other types of documents, but also between different types of email programs.

Crime Scene Analysis Expert Witness & Death Of College Basketball Star

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:55:00 -0800

A crime scene analysis expert witness will testify in the Hamilton County, TN, trial of Shanterrica Madden, accused of killing her college roommate Clantina Stewart last year. The defense says Madden acted in self-defense when she stabbed Stewart during an argument. Stewart was rushed to Middle Tennessee Medical Center where she died from her injuries.

SEAK Annual National Expert Witness Conference

Sat, 05 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

SEAK Inc. is organizing the 21st edition of its Annual National Expert Witness Conference at the Sea Crest Beach Hotel in Falmouth, Massachusetts on August 23rd and 24th, 2012. The Conference aims to provide support and training to experts from all disciplines and with all levels of experience and promises to provide a discussion on all aspects of expert witness testimony, ethics, and trial techniques by nationally recognized attorneys, experts, judges, and educators.

Download the Conference Flyer

Apartment Security Expert Witness in $20M Litigation Part 2

Thu, 03 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

Apartment security expert witness John Harris conducted a forensic evaluation and opined in litigation that resulted in a $20 million award to a female tenant who was raped in her apartment at Promenade Culllen Park in Houston, TX....

Mr. Harris found that the apartment complex did not comply with security industry standards, consensual guidelines and industry best practices regarding notification to tenants of crimes occurring on the property and of dangerous conditions posed by easy accessibility to second floor balconies by unauthorized persons. He determined that notices sent to tenants by management misstated the facts of the previous break-in and withheld information about potential harm to the tenants of the property including the rape victim. As a result of this conclusion the apartment management practices were examined under the Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act and were found to be in violation due the intentional withholding of facts to gain business.

Apple's Motion To Block Expert Witness Deposition Denied

Wed, 02 May 2012 06:00:00 -0800

In Apple v. Motorola , Judge Richard A. Posner, US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, denied Apple's motion to block the deposition of one of its expert witnesses. The patent case is scheduled for trial in June.