Articles Posted in Expert Witness News

In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

I mentioned earlier that there are two answers to the question, “Is renovation viable in a tough economy, and is it a smart thing to do.” Here’s the second answer, and it differs from the first in that it relates to hotels that do not need to be upgraded.

In my humble opinion, owners and operators whose properties are in order and competitive in their marketplace should defer major improvements until the economic recovery is well under way. In these tough economic times, I advocate taking a hard look at every line item on your profit-and-loss statement. Put everything out for competitive bid, whether it is to technology vendors, linen companies, insurance firms, f&b suppliers, you name it. All too often, managers get comfortable dealing with one company-but you’d be amazed at the money you can save by inviting competitive bidding for services and products on a regular basis. It’s a great way to increase cash flow without affecting customer service.

In August 2009 the Justice Department accused three men of stealing account information for more than 130 million credit and debit card numbers. Networking expert witness Ivan Zatkovich, principal consultant for the security firm E-Comp Consultants, had this to say on the credit card fraud case.

In this particular case, they hacked in to a payment gateway system, which is actually a central hub for processing millions of credit card transactions specifically for outlets like 7-Eleven and supermarket outlets like Hannaford Brothers supermarkets.

I think it’s a matter of diligence in terms of data security for the companies that run payment gateway systems. In fact, Heartland Payment Systems was cited in 2007 for being out of compliance with data security and were just reinstated last year by Visa after meeting compliance and as recently as this year they’ve been touting themselves as a leader in data security. Which turns out not the be case.

The Vermont State Police said Friday they have no proof a Rutland police officer intentionally downloaded child pornography onto a department computer while on duty last year. The admission was contained in an unusual statement released by the state police that discussed the status of its investigation into the allegation that the officer had more than 150 images of child pornography on his laptop computer. The state police rarely comment about ongoing investigations.

“There is insufficient evidence to indicate that the images were knowingly and intentionally downloaded,” the statement read in part. “Investigators have consulted with a medical expert regarding the possible age of an individual” in the images, the statement said. “The medical expert has indicated that he cannot say that the individual depicted is under the age of 16.”

For more, see BurlingtonFreePress.com.

In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

In short, you can’t afford to defer upgrades because of the poor economy. To put it another way, you can’t afford not to invest in an upgrade, regardless of the economy’s strength (or lack of it). The truth is, your guests don’t care if the economy is in bad shape, as long as your hotel is in good shape-and if it isn’t, they won’t be back.

Now because of the economic downturn and the resultant difficulty in getting a loan, you may be wondering how you could possibly afford to upgrade when business is down and cash-flow has been reduced to a trickle. One thing to consider is repositioning your product in the marketplace. Don’t let your ego get in the way-there’s nothing to be ashamed of in repositioning to a “lower” segment, and there are many economy-focused products available. It may be the right decision, one that keeps guest expectations in check while eliminating the need to invest what could be millions of dollars to upgrade in order to meet high expectations. Granted, this is not an easy choice: Your average daily rate will be negatively affected, but it may be your only viable alternative. After all, isn’t it better to reposition to a lower tier than to have your guests dissatisfied because their expectations are not being met? Think about it.

In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

First of all, it doesn’t matter whether you’re operating in a recession or in the most robust economy imaginable. The fact is that if your hotel doesn’t meet guest expectations, if it’s inferior to other, similarly priced properties in your market-well then, you need to upgrade. In fact, if you think you’re being fiscally responsible by not upgrading your hotel’s public spaces and guestrooms right now, you’re mistaken. Failing to renovate could lead to an irreversible decline in guest satisfaction and loyalty-and that scenario, obviously, will destroy your bottom line.

Here’s another piece of advice for hotel owners and operators: It’s crucial that you have in-depth knowledge of your property’s competitive position in the market. You have to take a thoughtful-and brutally honest-look at the quality of your hotel. Ask yourself if the property meets the needs of today’s increasingly demanding guest. How does your hotel compare with nearby (and perhaps much newer) properties? If your hotel isn’t cutting the mustard qualitywise, its future-and yours-is looking very dim.

In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

That’s a question I used to get asked a lot. But, as always, things change-and, obviously, not for the better, at least economically speaking these days. And so the question has changed. In these almost unprecedented hard economic times, the question isn’t so much whether a renovation is needed-rather, it’s whether a renovation is, first, viable and, second, whether it’s a smart thing to do.

This is a question you absolutely must ask yourself, especially in this incredibly tough financial environment. As for the answer … well, here’s what I think: There are two answers to this crucial question-and they both add up to an emphatic “Yes!”

Building codes expert Dr. S. Shyam Sunder, acting director, building and fire research laboratory at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), says providing minimum safety levels in buildings is one of the NIST goals. “We shouldn’t stop at one set of elements, but look at system-wide building safety as a whole, which has not been consistently and thoroughly done in codes. We need to ensure safety and system robustness, regardless of the threat,” he observes. The lead World Trade Center investigator says this includes minimum robustness and structural integrity in all structures for various threats, hazards, and events that may occur in the normal course of the 100-year life of a building rather than designing against a specific threat, such as blast.

For more, see http://www.buildings.com/Default.aspx and http://wtc.nist.gov/.

In The Need for Appraisals, appraisal expert witness Joel Forman of JLF Appraisal Services writes:

Starting in January 2011, the first wave of baby boomers will start retiring. For the next eighteen years, children born between 1946 and 1964 will be joining their older siblings and cousins to enjoy the golden years. Many individuals accumulated substantial estates. Some have impressive values. With both federal and state governments having dire cash flow problems, the need to have one’s affairs in order is more important than ever. JLF Appraisal Services is constantly amazed how many people don’t have wills, trusts or a DNR. When the courts are faced with an estate where the property owner died intestate, judges have been known to make arbitrary decisions that often go against the spoken wishes of the deceased. In addition, often there are constant family fights over the estate. This is especially true among the siblings, each person claiming the first right of refusal for all property.

As accredited appraisers, JLF Appraisal Services sees many estates that are ill-prepared for an orderly resolution. Most heirs have no idea what the estate properties are worth. More often than not, emotions overrule intellect. We highly that recommend individuals who are retired, or near retirement, work with their lawyers and tax consultants to ensure their wishes are followed. This is especially true when the will/trust specifies equitable distribution among the heirs, certain property donated to charity, and to trust funds for the future education of grandchildren and great grandchildren. The best way to get started, to ensure your wishes are followed, is to contact your attorney and financial advisor.

Insurance expert William S. Custer, Ph.D. writes on a black hole in health insurance:

Many of my fellow boomers have lost jobs during the recession. But the chances of our landing a new position with good benefits appear as steep as winning a lottery. And we tend to have more health conditions than younger people. “They are the most vulnerable of the uninsured,” says the health insurance expert at at Georgia State University. This group has more health needs, he adds, and “if laid off, they have a harder time finding a similar job.”

“The individual insurance market has never been very good,” says Cheryl Matheis, an AARP senior vice president. “It has become increasingly discriminatory” as insurers cherry-pick only the healthiest individuals, Matheis adds. Reform will greatly help people 50 and older, she says, by eliminating these insurance company practices.

The role of a medical expert witness needs to be strictly defined and carefully controlled during legal proceedings and physicians need to be aware of their role, states an analysis of the Goudge Inquiry into pediatric forensic pathology published http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090833.pdf in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca.

The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology by Justice Stephen Goudge looked into the flawed expert testimony of Ontario pathologist Dr. Charles Smith which has been linked to several miscarriages of justice, including the wrongful conviction of Sherry Sherret-Robinson that was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 2009.

Source: eurekalert.org