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In Watermarking an Expert Witness CV, construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

A recent article on a prominent expert witness directory site recommended and encouraged their experts and consultants to watermark their curriculum vitae. Their reasoning, according to the article, was because, “As disconcerting as it may be, unscrupulous activity does exist in the legal industry….”

The next thing I knew I received a copy of an email addressed to Mr. X from his adversary copying me requesting a copy of my expert report, as the deadline for submission of expert reports had expired. I immediately informed Mr. X that because he had not returned my retainer agreement and payment, nor sent me any discovery, I was not to be considered his expert on the case. I enclosed a copy of my original letter stating I had closed the file, and copied his adversary on my email to Mr. X.

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Neuropsychology expert witness Michael Daniel testified in Clark County Superior Court (WA) that although murder defendant Dennis Wolter may have sustained brain damage from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in addition to a traumatic brain injury at age 18, the brain damage did not impair Wolter’s ability to premeditate the 2011 murder of his ex-girlfriend, Kori Fredericksen. Jurors found Wolter guilty of the first-degree aggravated murder of Ms. Fredericksen.

Dr. Daniel is a clinical neuropsychologist and Professor and Director of the Neuropsychology Track at Oregon’s Pacific University. He is an in instructor in neuropsychological assessment, fundamentals of behavioral neuroscience, behavioral neurology, and neuropsychiatry

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Railroad expert witnesses may give opinions regarding railroad accident reconstruction, railroad accident investigation, train wrecks, and railroad safety. News.nationalgeographic.com reported that the oil train tragedy in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, involved crude oil tankers that decoupled, slid downhill and exploded. The train was parked and unmanned when 72 tankers caused the fire and explosion near the Maine border. The oil was being conveyed from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields to a New Brunswick refinery.

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National Transportation Safety Board investigators report that the pilots flying the Asiana flight 214 Boeing 777 did not have access to a system designed to assist in safely landing the jet airliner. The glide-slope provides guidance to keep the plane at the correct elevation and angle before landing but was out of service due to runway construction. NTSB Senior Aviation Accident Investigator Bill English is serving as investigator-in-charge. NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman is accompanying the team and will serve as the principal spokesman. Ms. Hersman said the flight data recorder indicates the aircraft’s speed at impact was 106 knots which is well below the aircraft’s target landing speed of 137 knots.

Former TWA pilot Barry Schiff stated that pilots “should always make an approach with power, and they didn’t do that.” The aviation safety expert witness has more than 27,000 hours logged in more than 300 types of aircraft and is the author of over 1,500 articles published in 90 aviation magazines. He is a contributing editor at AOPA Pilot.

Read more: http://www.ntsb.gov/

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Petroleum engineering expert witnesses may consult on petrochemical engineering, horizontal drilling, and deepwater operations. U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit judges Edith Brown Clement, James Dennis, and Leslie Southwick will be hearing arguments in the BP case over payments in the 2010 Deep Horizon oil spill. BP says settlement arrangements have been misconstrued resulting in businesses getting excessive payments.

In June the Coast Guard decided to stop sending out BP funded crews that have looked for oil deposits on northern Gulf Coast beaches on a regular basis.

More: http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/default.aspx

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In Seven Costly Mistakes Attorneys Make With Medical Negligence Cases, Dr. Burton Bentley of Elite Medical Experts LLC writes:

Although the rate of negligence claims against medical providers has begun to level off, the cost of litigating these actions has risen dramatically. Vast amounts of time and money are lost when attorneys – whether retained by plaintiff or defense – pursue a non-meritorious case or litigate a worthy case inefficiently. Beware of the following costly errors:

MISTAKE #5: MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE DIFFICULT CASES INDEPENDENTLY REVIEWED BY A NON-TESTIFYING EXPERT.

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DNA expert witness Andrea Young testified on blood evidence in the Oakland, MI, County Circuit Court felony murder case against Mitchell Young. Victim Robert Cipriano was beaten to death and his wife and son were seriously injured in the home invasion.

Ms. Young is a forensic scientist at the Michigan State Police Crime Lab and testified regarding DNA evidence found on weapons and clothes. On their website, the Michigan State Police describes DNA testing as “conducted on samples submitted by the serology sub-discipline to assist in the identification of individuals that may have left biological fluids at a crime scene.”

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Video expert witness Barry G. Dickey testified in Michael Patrick Kennedy’s attempted capital murder case (Texas Court of Appeals, Third District, at Austin). Dickey analyzed footage from the video camera mounted on Officer Richard Kunz’s patrol car and testified that Kunz shot at Kennedy first. “There is no evidence that any other shots were fired prior to Officer Kunz firing his weapon.”

Barry G. Dickey is the certified forensic expert for Audio Evidence Lab, a laboratory specializing in the examination, production, and engineering of audio/video recordings.

Read more: http://law.justia.com/cases/texas/third-court-of-appeals/2011/03-07-00134-cr-7.html

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Patents expert witnesses may consult on issues involving patent protection, patent prosecution, and patent infringement. Macobserver.com reports that Boston University has filed a patent suit against Apple over a semiconductor BU received a patent on in 1997. BU is seeking a sales injunction on Apple.

See complaint here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/151515660/BU-v-Apple.

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Pornography expert witnesses may provide reports concerning child pornography, cyberpornography, sexual exploitation, and domestic assault. Former Ripley, WV, police officer George Michael Puskas II pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography in Charleston this week. Puskas taped child pornography using a digital camera issued by the police department.

Read more:http://www.wowktv.com/