Articles Posted in Researching Experts

In Four things an attorney should know about retaining an expert witness, construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

The decision to retain an expert witness is an important factor in any litigation. Strategic selection and communication with the expert can have a substantial impact on the case, from settlement options to court room testimony. The opposite is also true — the wrong choice of an expert witness can result in poor or negative results. I have compiled four recommendations for attorneys from an expert witness perspective.

1. Take Action Early Many cases do not require an expert at all. However, once the use of an expert becomes foreseeable through fact evidence or because your adversary has declared he or she is utilizing an expert witness, you should retain and get your expert up to speed on the case as soon as possible.

Rubber expert witnesses may opine on rubber consumer products, tires, and rubber piping. Experts at the Rubber Manufacturers Association released a study in June that shows millions of drivers around the country are failing to properly maintain their tires and are putting themselves at risk while wasting gas and money. The nationwide survey found that fifty-five percent of vehicles had at least one under inflated tire and only one in six vehicles had four properly inflated tires. RMA is the national trade association for tire makers who manufacture in the U.S. The group worked with several tire retailers to collect actual tire pressure measurements from more than 6,300 vehicles in more than 30 cities.

Proper Tire Inflation Saves Gas Properly inflated tires can improve fuel efficiency by 3.3 percent and save nine cents per gallon at the pump, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Approximately 1.2 billion gallons of fuel are wasted each year by U.S. motorists driving on under inflated tires.

Under Inflated Tires Pose Safety Risk Under inflated tires also pose a safety risk. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that under inflated tires contribute to more than 600 fatalities and 33,000 injuries each year.

In Insurexpert’s Blog, insurance customs expert witness David H. Paige, Esq, writes on whether the insurance broker has a duty to suggest that the insured purchase additional insurance coverage.

A continuing issue that has reappeared for years is the question of whether an insurance broker has an obligation to speak out and suggest to an insured that he should be purchasing more or different insurance. The courts have split on this question in different jurisdictions. As a latest example, a California court found that the defendant insurance agent did not have a duty to volunteer that an insured should procure different or additional coverage. Instead, as is the trend in many jurisdictions, the court stated that a duty to advise on additional insurance only arises under very specific circumstances. In California, the court found an expanded duty to advise arises when only one of three conditions is first met: (1) when the agent misrepresents the nature, extent or scope of the coverage being offered or provided, (2) when there is a request or inquiry by the insured for a particular type or extent of coverage, or (3) when the agent assumes an additional duty by either express agreement or by holding himself out as having expertise in a given field of insurance being sought by the insured.

Read more: thePaigeReport.

Insurance expert witnesses may opine on insurance practices, insurance claims, and insurance coverage. Here, insurance experts from Anderson Kill Wood & Bender write:

Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Experts Offer Advice on Changing Carriers and/or Brokers Every year as renewal day approaches, companies are faced with a difficult decision: do they renew with their incumbent insurance companies, or do they risk changing carriers to take advantage of lower rates, broader policy language or coverage add-ons? But the truth is, insurance carriers and brokers are helping businesses reach that decision every day of the year with their execution, their knowledge and their business practices.

With the soft market in insurance and the underlying economic unsteadiness of many carriers, there might never have been a time when so many companies are willing to question whether it is time to change insurance carriers or brokers. Even decades-long relationships can be tested in times such as these. And what if the incumbent carrier is exiting the market or unwilling to renew for another reason? Policyholders must move cautiously and comprehensively to avoid a lapse or gap in coverage.

Mortgage loans expert witnesses may opine on variable rate mortgages, reverse mortgages, and conventional mortgages, as well as related topics. Here, loan expert Tammye Trevifio, Administrator, Housing and Community Facilities Programs, writes on:

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Funding Notice

Many of you may be aware of recent legislation in which Congress provided USDA with authority to resume operating the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) at no cost to taxpayers. This was done through a combination of authority to: increase the upfront fee up to 3.5 percent of the principal obligation; charge a new annual fee of up to 0.5 percent of the outstanding principal balance; and waive payment of any fees for low and very low income borrowers up to a certain amount of loan guarantees.

Trucking industry expert witnesses may opine on trucking and transportation rules and regulations and federal motor vehicle safety standards, as well as related issues. Here, experts at Truckinginfo.com report:

The U.S. District Court upheld the legality of controversial parts of the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program yesterday, which could open up the port truck drivers to unionization. But observers say there will likely be an appeal.

Last year, District Judge Christina Snyder granted the American Trucking Associations a preliminary injunction against certain concessions, including a ban on owner-operators at the port. While the ATA does support the Clean Truck Program’s environmental goals, the association argued that the concession plan imposes operational requirements that create a regulatory environment similar to state intrastate economic regulation and is thus against federal law.

In When Do You Call an Expert for Cell Phone Data? Leonard Deutchman, Leonard Deutchman, general counsel and administrative partner of LDiscovery, discusses when to hire a telecommunications expert witness:

Cell phone service providers keep records of when telephones transmit to or receive signals from cell towers. Persons familiar with the nomenclature of those records can read them and, if they know a user’s telephone number, determine whether the user’s cell phone was being used within the vicinity of a cell tower on a certain day and at a certain time.

Such use of records is known as “cell phone tracking.” It can be done through records downloaded from cell sites after the fact or in real time; indeed, America became acquainted with the phenomenon on June 17, 1994, during the famous “low speed chase” leading to the arrest of O.J. Simpson, where the suspect’s whereabouts were ascertained in real time by following the cell sites which received signals from and transmitted them to a cell phone in a vehicle in which Simpson was traveling. Since then, it is not hyperbole to state that a week rarely passes without one of the CSI, NCIS, or other detective or police procedural television shows making reference to cell phone tracking.

In THE REAL ESTATE CLIENT: VALUATION SERVES IMPORTANT MASTERS IN LITIGATION CASES, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:

Before the business appraiser can focus on the specific value of the limited partnership interest, the value of the entire partnership based on the sum of the individual asset values less the partnership liabilities needs to be determined. The appraisal valuation date is critical, such date normally concurring with the date the transaction(s) regarding alleged effects upon the injured party occurred. The valuation date may be expanded to include the date of trial.

Some valuation concepts have evolved to the point of becoming standards of value. It is important that users of a valuation expert understand which standard of value the business valuation expert utilizes. Deciding the appropriate standard of value to use is where the expert often begins.

Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. For instance, biotechnology is applied to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for large scale production of drugs.

Green biotechnology deals with the use of environmentally-friendly solutions as an alternative to traditional agriculture, horticulture, and animal breeding processes. An example is the designing of transgenic plants that are modified for improved flavor, for increased resistance to pests and diseases, or for enhanced growth in adverse weather conditions. Biotechnology expert witnesses may opine on biofortification, metabolic manipulation, etc.

Read more: biologyonline.org.

Litigation funding expert witnesses may opine on litigation financial options and settlements. In Third Party Financing of Litigation, Paul H. Rubin, Department of Economics Emory University, writes:

The common law has long forbidden third party investment in lawsuits based on “champerty” and related doctrines. More recently, these restrictions have been relaxed, although they may not have been entirely eliminated in the U.S. While it might appear efficient to allow such investment, in fact it is not. The effect of relaxing restrictions will be to increase litigation.

When there are benefits of litigation these are deterrence of harmful activities. However, the U.S. already goes much farther than any other country in allowing class actions and other group based litigation, and so any benefits of increased litigation are likely to be small or nonexistent.