Expert Witness Blog

Hours of service expert witnesses may write reports and testify on trucking, the trucking industry, and trucking and transportation rules and regulations. The DOT website states that most drivers must follow the HOS Regulations if they drive a commercial motor vehicle.

The Hours of Service of Drivers Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2011. The effective date of the Final Rule is February 27, 2012, and the compliance date of selected provisions is July 1, 2013.

Read more: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/

Trucking expert witnesses may opine on issues involving the trucking industry, the Department of Transportation, trucking safety, truck maintenance, and trucking and transportation rules and regulations. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration maintains a company safety records database that is searchable by company name, USDOT number, or motor carrier number.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/safety-security/sites/company-safety.htm

Insurance expert witnesses may advise on issues involving insurance claims, insurance adjusters, insurance agencies, and insurance fraud. The Insurance Claims And Issues blog entry A SHORT VISIT TO THE ADJUSTMENT OF CLAIMS discusses adjusters and independent adjusters.

Adjusting insurance claims sometimes seems like the opposite of what Mark Twain said about the weather: ‘Everybody is doing something about it, but nobody talks about it.’ This article will focus on that issue.

Claims are adjusted by an adjuster who is someone in the employ of the insurance company, or specially retained by it for a given claim or set of claims.

Internet expert witnesses may consult on social media, internet browsers, internet security, and related matters. In the news, Google Inc. will pay $7M to 38 states over its collection of personal data from 2008 to May 2010. Google Street View cars drove down public streets and gathered WiFi network information for their geolocation services. Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel Kent Walker signed an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance on March 8, 2013.

Read document: http://hawaii.gov/dcca/ocp/news-releases/Assurance%20AVC%20Google.pdf

Software expert witnesses may opine on application software, business software, computer software, and associated matters. In the news, the LA Times reports that European Union antitrust officials fined Microsoft Corp. $731M for failing give a browser choice in Windows. Microsoft had agreed to include a browser selection in Windows 7 but did not for 14 months starting in February 2011 with Windows 7 Service pack 1. Microsoft reported the option was still there and sited technical errors.

Legal nurse consultant expert witnesses may testify on palliative care, forensic nursing, medical record review, and legal nurse certification, as well as related issues. In 5 ways Legal Nurse Consultants Assist with Medical Mass Torts, Mednick Associates writes:

2) Defense assistance: LNCs act as a siphoning agent for defense attorneys. As they review the records they are able to answer specific questions the defense may present, thus making an argument to dismiss a potential plaintiff. For example, they may scan the records to determine if the plaintiff is a smoker or obese, factors that may exclude them or provide an argument for their dismissal.

3) Plaintiff assistance: For the prosecution, the LNC performs a vital function of reviewing the records for specific patterns or ailments that may result from a particular drug, medical device or treatment. These trends are what increase the population of plaintiffs, thus making the case stronger, more difficult to refute and easier to obtain a medical expert witness.

In DUE DILIGENCE: SECURITIES APPLICATIONS AND REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS, 2011, securities expert witness Douglas J. Schulz writes:

DEFINITIONS What are the accepted or appropriate definitions of the term “due diligence”? As in almost all regulatory or litigation situations, it depends on which side of the fence you are on. If you are on the defense side and you are being accused by either a regulator or an investor/claimant that you failed to perform proper due diligence, your definition may be amorphous and narrow. You might claim the term is synonymous with such words as inquiry, investigation, research or review. On the other hand, if you are the investor/claimant, your definition will be more encompassing and will include such words as systematic, methodical, meticulous, scrupulous, detailed, and comprehensive.

Mr. Schulz has been in the securities business professionally for 33 years and has been hired over 1,100 times as a securities expert.