Articles Posted in Researching Experts

In Creating a Sales Presence in the Global Marketplace, marketing strategy expert witness Glen Balzer writes:

Companies operating only in their home market or in a limited number of global markets understandably worry about entering a new foreign market. Risks are many and opportunities for problems are enormous. There is an additional risk of taking the corporate eye off the core business and revenue stream. What should a company planning to enter a foreign market do in order to protect itself from failure and improve its chances for success? A company can create an eight-step plan that includes:

1. Properly setting expectations 2. Developing a bank of resources 3. Studying local market norms 4. Hiring a country manager 5. Selecting a manufacturers’ representative 6. Negotiating a representative agreement 7. Preparing for fraud and scandal 8. Incorporating lessons from competitors

Homeowner’s insurance expert witnesses may write reports and testify on insurance claims, homeowners liability protection, hazard insurance, and associated areas of expertise. At Missouri Insurance Lawyer Blog, the law firm of Tatlow, Gump, Faiella & Wheelan LLC, write:

Many Missourians have experienced devastating losses as a result of the storms that have ravaged the southern portion of the state in recent weeks. Thousands of people will be filing insurance claims and we want to help make sure those claims are handled properly by explaining a few situations that could happen with your insurance claims. Here are just a few things to take into consideration:

1. Many insurance companies use a property damage estimating software program called Xactimate. Prices in the program are updated on a quarterly basis. When a large storm strikes it is not uncommon for labor and materials prices in the area of the storm to increase, sometimes rapidly. As a result the prices in the Xactimate program may be outdated at the time of the storm because of the sudden increase in prices. Check with your insurer who uses this or similar programs to determine if they have updated their prices to reflect the increase in the prices immediately following the storm. If not, ask that they do so; otherwise your repair estimate may not accurately reflect the exact cost of repairs.

Trucking software expert witnesses may testify on log book validation, mapping software and more. In Opinion: Across the Great ELD Divide, Billy Woolsey, President Midwest Compliance Inc. writes on ELD regulation:

Large and small carriers increasingly find themselves on opposite sides of a widening gulf when the topic is electronic logging devices – particularly when the issue is whether or not ELDs should be required by government mandate.

Large carriers tend to support the ELD regulation that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed. Smaller carriers, however, are less than thrilled by the possibility of such a mandate, unless the devices are required only as the result of a compliance review.

Commercial liability policies expert witnesses may opine on insurance claims, liability insurance and more. In Court of Appeals Rules on When Late Notice of a Claim Voids Coverage, Michael J. Rust writes:

On April 28, 2011, in Forshee v. Employers Mutual Casualty Company, the Georgia Court of Appeals found that a fact question existed as to whether Employers Mutual received timely notice of a claim arising out of a slip and fall at an insured convenience store. The Court overruled the trial court’s finding that the insured had not provided timely notice and decided that the issue was a factual dispute that a jury must decide. In its opinion, the Court established the standard to be considered by a trial court in a late notice case.

Read more: http://mjr-law.blogspot.com/.

Sales forecasting expert witnesses may testify on sales promotions, retail sales, sales revenues and more. Referenceforbusiness.com describes three important qualitative forecasting methods: the Delphi technique, scenario writing, and the subject approach.

DELPHI TECHNIQUE.

In the Delphi technique, an attempt is made to develop forecasts through “group consensus.” Usually, a panel of experts is asked to respond to a series of questionnaires. The experts, physically separated from and unknown to each other, are asked to respond to an initial questionnaire (a set of questions). Then, a second questionnaire is prepared incorporating information and opinions of the whole group. Each expert is asked to reconsider and to revise his or her initial response to the questions. This process is continued until some degree of consensus among experts is reached. It should be noted that the objective of the Delphi technique is not to produce a single answer at the end. Instead, it attempts to produce a relatively narrow spread of opinions-the range in which opinions of the majority of experts lie.

Federal motor vehicle safety standards expert witnesses may write reports on crashworthiness, truck maintenance, and trucking and transportation rules and regulations. On their website, The O’Connell Law Firm, P.C. writes on dangerous truck drivers:

In late 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented an extensive new program to improve safety in the commercial trucking industry. Known as the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, the initiative focuses on identifying and sanctioning trucking companies with track records of risky driving in order to prevent future trucking accidents.

The CSA program evaluates trucking companies and keeps track of individual drivers. But, even though individuals are monitored, gaps in the system may allow unsafe truckers to remain behind the wheel.

Insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on property insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and insurance companies. In the wake of homes destroyed throughout the country, attorneys at Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, explain replacement cost and extended replacement cost:

Unfortunately, many of those homeowners will soon discover that their insurance won’t cover all of their rebuilding cost.

Replacement cost. This covers the cost of repairing or replacing your home, based on a set dollar amount. However, one of the problems with this coverage is that it often times does not reflect the increase in the cost of construction and labor since you took out your policy in your community. If your community is destroyed by a natural disaster, then that means that there could be higher demand for such construction and labor needs, and that will inevitably push up the cost of repairing and replacing your home.

Affidavit of service expert witnesses may testify and write reports on service of process, legal notice, and related topics. The National Association of Professional Process Servers reports on their website:

Proposed Maryland Legislation Harmful To People and Threatens Legal Due Process

The National Association of Professional Process Servers (NAPPS), along with the Mid-Atlantic Association of Professional Process Servers (MAAPPS), have grave concerns about pending legislation that establishes rules that allow for people to be served legal documents by mail rather than in person.

Insurance claims expert witnesses may write reports and testify on property insurance, insurance regulations, and related topics. Recently, Business Insurance reported:

Japanese insurers have paid almost $2.27 billion to cover approximately 125,000 claims associated with earthquake damage to personal dwellings stemming from the March 11 tsunami and earthquake that devastated Japan. According to the General Insurance Association of Japan (GIAJ), the number of claims is expected to increase as efforts continue to restore heavily damaged areas of the country.

Coverage for dwelling claims, which have accounted for a large portion of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami-related claims thus far, are reinsured exclusively by the Japanese government. For this reason, foreign reinsurers will experience little if any exposure to these particular claims. The total insured property losses from the Japan earthquake and tsunami have so far been estimated at between $18 billion and $26 billion.

Process service expert witnesses may opine on acceptance of service, affidavit of service, jurats, judicial summons, and more. The National Association of Professional Process Servers reports on their website that New York process servers were granted a partial restraining order on a new law:

The New York State Professional Process Servers Association (NYSPPSA) was granted a partial restraining order on March 21 to allow the Association and the City of New York to continue negotiations over new regulations for professional process servers within the city limits.

The association and its members remain hopeful that differences can be resolved amicably and to the satisfaction of all parties. Prior to the court filing, NYSPPSA and the City of New York had been negotiating in good faith and were making progress ahead of a March 21 deadline. NYSPPSA chose court action only after a request to extend that deadline was denied. In the event the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily, further court proceedings were set for April 27.