Articles Posted in Researching Experts

Electrical accidents expert witness Lawrence Kamm writes on electrical injuries:

Electrical accidents create personal injuries which are the subjects of attorneys’ lawsuits. Expert witnesses reconstruct these accidents for lawyers and establish their liabilities. Among these accidents are electric shocks, electrocutions, electrical explosions, electrical fires, and flash burns. Lawyers are particularly interested in product liability cases. This lawyer’s tutorial explains the basics of electrical accidents as an introduction to dealing with expert witnesses.

Electricity is a major asset but, along with gasoline, drugs, and explosives it can do major harm if not handled carefully. Electricity is invisible and has no sound or smell but it can give you a shock which may startle you, paralyze you, damage your internal organs in many ways, burn your skin, and kill you. The heat from a short circuit arc may give you a flash burn and a blast injury, the radiation from an electrically powered X-ray tube, laser, or radar antenna can cause internal or external burns, a lightning strike may give you a major shock or electrocution, and an electrically operated device may malfunction and injure you.

In THE PERFECT STORM: The Science Behind Subrogating Catastrophic Flood Losses, hydrology expert witness Richard Van Bruggen writes:

HYDROLOGY VERSUS HYDRAULICS While hydrology is the study of the rainfall-runoff process, including the determination of design frequency storms and floods, hydraulics is the study of how the water flows. In the case of flood flows, this could be the analysis of pipe and channel systems, culvert and bridge design, and the determination of river floodways and floodplains. The hydraulics part is essential to determine how much water fits in the pipe or channel or how far it spreads out on the floodplain.

As with hydrologic simulations, hydraulic simulations can also be conducted.

In Parts Produced by an Owner or Operator. Are They Legal? aviation expert witness David A Botich writes:

The answer to this question is yes, so long as that part meets certain criteria.

This is a subject that has a very profound affect on maintaining and modifying aircraft, and yet is widely unknown or misunderstood. It offers an alternative solution to the owner/operator, whereas it allows a person to produce a part to be installed on a type certified aircraft. Such a person need not be an FAA approved manufacturer. Of course this does not mean that a person may produce a part for an aircraft without following any requirements. It does mean that a person may produce a part, and that part will be eligible (read legal) to be installed on an aircraft, if he follows the FAA requirements for the production of that part.

In The Expert Nurse Witness, Ellen K. Murphy writes:

Expert nurse witnesses typically are needed whenever the adequacy of another nurse’s actions are in question. Usually, this occurs in disciplinary proceedings against a nurse licensee before an administrative law judge or in malpractice cases where the actions of the nurse are alleged to have contributed to a patient’s injury. For decades, most courts accepted that physicians had the necessary expertise to explain standards of nursing. More recently, it has been recognized that testimony about what a nurse should have done best comes from another nurse. For example, in 1958, a California court allowed a physician to testify about what nurses should have done saying, “Surely a qualified doctor would know what was standard procedure of nurses to follow” (Goff v Doctor’s Hospital, 166 CalApp2d 314, 319 [1958]).

Fourteen years later, a Pennsylvania court recognized that a physician might not be the best expert on nursing standards, but it still allowed physicians’ testimony to be admitted because, “all areas of medical expertise within the knowledge of nurses are also within the knowledge of medical doctors” (Taylor v Spencer Hospital, 292 A2d 449, 452 [Pa Super 1972]). Finally, in 2004, an Illinois court explicitly held that a physician was not qualified to testify as to the standard of care for the nursing profession under the laws of the state of Illinois (Sullivan v Edward Hospital, 806 NE2d 645 [Ill 2004]). Along with this increasing judicial recognition of the unique body of nursing knowledge comes an increased responsibility for nurses to be willing to share their expertise with lay legal decision makers; however, they must do so within the context of the unfamiliar, adversarial legal system.

Pesticides expert witnesses may testify and provide reports on consumer products treated with pesticides:

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) requires the registration of any substance intended to prevent, destroy, repel, or mitigate pests. However, the Code of Federal Regulations prescribes the conditions under which an exemption from registration is allowed for treated articles or substances. It allows an exemption for:

An article or a substance treated with or containing a pesticide to protect the article or substance itself (for example, paint treated with a pesticide to protect the paint coating, or wood products treated to protect the wood against insects or fungus infestation), if the pesticide is registered for such use.

According to the Center for Injury Prevention and Control, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among U.S. teens, accounting for more than one in three deaths in this age group. Most teen accidents can be easily avoided. Insurance experts at CURE Auto Insurance provides the following list of tips for teens and parents to ensure teens stay safe behind the wheel.

3. Don’t drink and drive. Although this seems obvious, according to the NHTSA, teens are at far greater risk of death in an alcohol-related crash than the overall population, despite the fact that they are below the minimum drinking age in every state. Do not get behind the wheel of a vehicle if you have been drinking or get in the car with someone that you suspect has been drinking. This split second decision has changed the lives of millions of teens.

4. Wear your seatbelt. Despite being the most at risk group for accidents, teens also have lower seatbelt use rates than adults. Take charge by letting your friends know when they get into your car you won’t drive until everyone has a seatbelt fastened.

In The World Trade Center Property Insurance Trial: Lessons Learned?, liability insurance expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

Jurors rendered verdict in favor of ten, and against three of the 13 insurers. Regardless of the verdict, there are no winners in this case. The causes of this litigation could have been avoided and the fact remains that none of the parties to this case are blameless.

However, it is not the purpose of this article to castigate anyone involved in the placement and negotiation process, rather, by highlighting key issues that were the subject of the litigation, it is to identify some of the lessons learned or should be learned and to prompt insurers, brokers and risk managers to reexamine their role and involvement in the insurance placement and negotiation process.

In The World Trade Center Property Insurance Trial: Lessons Learned?, insurance claims expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

Although this was a complicated and large insurance placement that taxed the world market capacity and there was pressure to complete it to meet the 7/24/01 deadline for the closing of the WTC lease, there is no excuse for the failure of the parties to reach explicit agreement on which form applied when coverage was bound, let alone by 9/11/01, almost two months after binding. By no means was this a unique placement as there are many other large insurance programs just as large and complicated, which must be placed in a relatively short time frame. Undoubtedly, various issues and problems that led to litigation in this case exists in many other instances but will remain hidden absent of a claim and subsequent dispute about coverage.

Electrical expert witness David J. Marne, P.E., is the author of McGraw-Hill’s National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®) Handbook. Here he explains the difference between the NESC® and the NEC®:

The National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®) governs the construction, operation, and maintenance of utility lines, substations, and generating plants. It covers both electric power and communication lines from the generating plant to the customer’s meter. The NESC® used primarily by utility employees.

The National Electrical Code® (NEC®) governs the customer’s installation after the meter: homes, factories, industrial facilities, etc. The NEC® is used primarily by homeowners, electrical contractors, and electrical designers.

In HEAD INJURY : WOULD A HELMET HAVE HELPED?, bicycle accidents expert witnesses at Walters Forensic Engineering write:

Brain Injuries
In general, brain injuries caused by impacts are produced by one of two mechanisms. Sudden deceleration is one of these, and in such a case the brain is injured due to its motion inside the head, including collisions with the inside of the skull. The notable feature of this kind of injury is that the brain may suffer serious trauma even where the skull remains undamaged. The other mechanism of brain injury occurs when the skull is cracked or penetrated, in which case brain injury can occur regardless of the level of head acceleration during impact.