Articles Posted in Researching Experts

In THE LAYMAN’S GLOSSARY: Terms Relating to the Forensic Examination of Handwriting, Signatures and Documents , handwriting expert witness Jacqueline A. Joseph, CDE, Board Certified Examiner of Handwriting & Documents, writes:

This glossary has been designed to meet the needs of those seeking to gain the meaning of common forensic terms and to understand the jargon used during the examination of questioned handwriting and signatures…

Because it would be impracticable to include all forensic terms in a work of this size and scope, this work includes many of the common terms relating to the examination of questioned handwriting and signature examination. It does not include terms relating to laboratory equipment, ink differentiation or other methods involving aspects beyond the examination of handwriting and signatures. However, it is my intention to publish expanded editions in the future….

Patents expert witnesses may write reports on drug patents, patent prosecution, and patent infringement. In a recent post on /www.becker-posner-blog.com, Judge Richard Posner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit writes:

Do patent and copyright law restrict competition and creativity excessively?

I am concerned that both patent and copyright protection, though particularly the former, may be excessive.

To evaluate optimal patent protection for an invention, one has to consider both the cost of inventing and the cost of copying; the higher the ratio of the former to the latter, the greater the optimal patent protection for the inventor.

In Do Helmets Prevent Concussion? biomechanics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., CPE, CBIS, writes:

Protection against concussion and axonal injury is especially important for young players, including peewee, high school, and college participants, whose still-developing brains are more susceptible to the lasting effects of encephalopathy. Therefore, the need to develop headgear to protect susceptible individuals from life-changing brain damage is paramount.

Consistent with their innovative approach to meeting the challenges of brain trauma, combined with 20+ years of experience in biomechanics, and neurophysiology, BRAINS researchers have investigated several new technologies to measure and reduce the debilitating effects of concussion in football players. The team is poised to integrate their new technology into helmet design – a paradigm-shift in helmet construction – and bring to market a more comprehensive form of head gear to defend against catastrophic brain injuries while also mitigating linear forces associated with impact.

In EVALUATING AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY CASES, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:

A careful reading of his expert witness resume showed a lack of advanced and relevant formal training and work experience for some of the key issues in the case. There were also questions about some serious issues in his past, such as a reported termination from a position as a school security director, allegations of involvement in unethical bidding practices, a reputation for frequently harassing school systems and government agencies that would not hire him by filing open records requests, and lodging complaints and making derogatory statements about the organizations in press releases and media interviews. I felt this expert witness would likely not withstand a thorough and skilled examination by a competent and properly prepared attorney. The attorney who retained this expert for the defense apparently missed these potential problem areas in the expert’s background. When plaintiff’s counsel prepared to vigorously challenge the qualifications of the defense expert at deposition, the defense withdrew the expert, and soon thereafter settled the case on terms suitable to the plaintiff. While the defense had other problems with their case, losing what they thought was a top caliber expert witness well into the court proceedings certainly did not help.

In Do Helmets Prevent Concussion? biomechanics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., CPE, CBIS, writes:

Using proprietary miniature sensors to measure concussion risk at the center of the brain, BRAINS researchers completed more than 330 tests across ten popular helmet brands. The team concluded that while these helmets provide excellent protection from linear impacts – those leading to bruising and skull fracture – they offer little or no protection against angular acceleration, a dangerous source of brain injury and encephalopathy.

Results show percent reduction in linear impact acceleration, Head Injury Criterion (HIC), and angular acceleration provided by the different football helmets, compared to the same impact with no helmet. Note that all helmets provide considerable protection from skull fracture (blue) and focal brain impact (green), but are far less effective at reducing risk of diffuse brain injury and concussion and encephalopathy (red). In fact, some helmet designs offer no significant protection from concussion – and those that offer the least protection are among the most popular on the field.

In EVALUATING AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY CASES, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:

Introduction There has been a dramatic increase in the number of people who work in the field of school safety, security and emergency preparedness since the tragic Columbine High School attack on April 20, 1999. Many practitioners are highly skilled and qualified. Some experts are properly qualified to work in some areas, but have no relevant background in other areas. This has led to a significant problem with school safety experts who work outside their areas of expertise. As with other disciplines, school safety expert witnesses who work outside their specialties can have a significant impact on court cases. For example, school safety experts have incurred financial liability for allegedly working beyond their areas of expertise as was the case in the deadly Red Lake Reservation school shooting.

Problems in addition to experts working beyond their field of expertise should be considered. For example, in a civil action brought against a public school system by the parents of a student murdered on campus, the school system settled the case shortly after they withdrew one of their expert witnesses prior to his deposition. I had been asked by plaintiff’s counsel to evaluate the defense’s expert witness to help counsel prepare to depose him. Though this expert witness had been interviewed by national media organizations, had many years of experience as a school safety consultant, had served previously as an expert witness in school safety cases, and had what could at first glance appear to be seemingly impressive credentials, I had questions about his suitability to serve as an expert witness.

In Do Helmets Prevent Concussion? biomechanics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., CPE, CBIS, writes:

BRAINS Researchers Reveal Deficiencies in Football Helmet Design

Researchers at BRAINS, Inc. have conducted biomechanical tests revealing the deficiency of current football helmet designs in protecting players from brain injury, particularly concussion.

In EVALUATING AN EXPERT WITNESS FOR SCHOOL SAFETY CASES, school safety expert witness Michael Dorn writes:

Purpose of this paper This document is designed to help legal risk management practitioners who must evaluate the match between an expert and a school safety court case. Court cases involving school safety issues are extremely important because they can at times involve not only millions of dollars, but also have a major impact on the lives of victims, surviving family members as well as the people and organizations named as defendants. For example, a student who incurs serious permanent injury may require millions of dollars in future medical care over a lifetime. At the same time, serious allegations of misconduct or negligence can affect the lives and reputations of school officials, public safety officials and school organizations named as defendants.

This article provides a list of questions attorneys may want to ask an expert witness before deciding to retain the expert as well as tips for evaluating an expert witness retained by opposing counsel. This information should be helpful to insurance professionals and judges who are tasked with determining if an expert is properly qualified for a particular case. As a non-profit school safety center, the goal of Safe Havens International is to help make schools safer, more effective places to learn and to work. Efficient and fair resolution of legal disputes relating to school safety situations supports these goals.

In The Many Faces of TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY, brain injury expert witness Dr. John D. Lloyd, PhD, MErgS, CPE, CBIS, writes:

The brain is the most complex thing in the world. A baby’s brain at birth, weighing about 1 pound is already one-third the size of a typical 3-pound adult brain. And if we consider that there are one million nerve cells in a section of brain the size of a grain of rice, it is impossible to comprehend the billions and billions of neuronal pathways in an average brain. In fact, there are more neural connections in each brain than there are stars in the sky. A baby’s brain is the last of the major organs to develop in utero, where neurons are born from the division of a stem cell. Unlike most cells in the body, which die and are replaced, neurons, which are formed in the fetus, are designed to last for a lifetime.

There are two primary mechanisms associated with traumatic brain injury – impact loading and impulse loading.

In EFFECTIVE VALUATION & LITIGATION SUPPORT IN CORPORATE SECURITIES LAWSUITS, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:

CORPORATE SECURITIES LITIGATION

• Minority shareholder rights • Going public or going private transactions • Securities fraud • Buy-sell agreements • Corporate dissolution