Expert Witness Blog

In Report Writing and Opinion Terminology, document examination expert witness Ronald N. Morris writes:

REPORT FORMAT The FDE uses a report format he is comfortable with, or one established by the laboratory in which he works. No one format is the only correct and accepted one to use. However, whatever format is used it should incorporate the following basic elements:

A. Questioned: A clearly written, and complete description of all the questioned documents submitted for examination.

In Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Hospitality Industry hospitality expert witness Maurice Robinson writes on arbitration:

Arbitration is a well-established form of dispute resolution that provides the parties with a final and legally binding decision. The decision is enforceable by a court of law typically after only a very limited review and may not be appealed except under very limited circumstances. Occasionally, the parties may agree to a non-binding arbitration, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

For years arbitration was viewed as an effective alternative to litigation and trial through the court system only in certain types of disputes, such as construction and design, labor and employment, disagreements over the purchase and sale of residential real property, consumer stock brokerage, and medical care. Early on, arbitration was pushed primarily by certain industries, such as stock brokers, architects, construction professionals, labor unions and hospitals, who perceived arbitration as an effective alternative to trial for a variety of reasons: they had a large number of lawsuits largely involving repetitive, cookie-cutter issues; they wanted to achieve some uniformity of result; they wanted confidentiality to the extent possible; and they wanted their disputes to be “tried” by an arbitrator with industry savvy, if not industry expertise.

In Addressing the Challenges of Cross-Border Data Protection and eDiscovery The Organization of Legal Professionals writes:

One of the more troubling eDiscovery issues that globalization has inadvertently imposed on organizations is compliance with a complex set of international data protection and privacy laws. These laws present a significant challenge to U.S. companies, which enjoy fewer domestic restraints on collecting and storing personal data of its employees and consumers. Read more: e-discovery 2.0.

The Organization of Legal Professionals is a professional association dedicated to setting standards and certifications through collaboration, education and certifications.

In More effective use of experts in slip-and-fall cases – The right expert will help you to better prepare the case and win it at trial, attorney David Reinard writes on when to retain your experts:

The answer here is easy: Before it’s too late and no sooner than you have to. In other words, there is no “one-size-fitsall”

answer. Experts are critical to success in these cases. As noted above, they can help you in every aspect of your case, from pre-litigation investigation to your cross of the defense experts at trial. On the other hand, unless you have an unlimited budget, you need to be careful to hire experts at the right time.