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Hazard identification expert witnesses may write reports and opine on risk assessment, disaster risk management, as well as related issues. At its website, FEMA offers Hazus, a methodology for estimating potential losses from disasters.

Hazus is used for mitigation and recovery as well as preparedness and response. Government planners, GIS specialists, and emergency managers use Hazus to determine losses and the most beneficial mitigation approaches to take to minimize them. Hazus can be used in the assessment step in the mitigation planning process, which is the foundation for a community’s long-term strategy to reduce disaster losses and break the cycle of disaster damage, reconstruction, and repeated damage. Being ready will aid in recovery after a natural disaster.

Read more: fema.gov.

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Insurance policies expert witnesses may opine on commercial liability policies, the insurance industry, commercial insurance, and associated issues. In California Appellate Court Upholds Trial Court’s Dismissal of a Coverage Claim for an Alleged Advertising Injury, Kimberly L. Buffington, Partner, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, writes:

In Oglio Entertainment Group, Inc. v. Hartford Casualty Insurance Company, 200 Cal. App. 4th 573 (2011), the California Court of Appeal concluded that an entertainment company’s insurance policy covering “personal and advertising injuries” did not cover a claim for trading on the celebrity and goodwill associated with a musician’s name or using the musician’s name as the domain name for a website selling similar music.

Read more from Ms. Buffington.

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Agent errors and omissions expert witnesses may write reports and opine on professional liability, mismanagement, E&O and associated matters. Stateside Underwriting Agency offers this explanation of miscellaneous professional liability:

Miscellaneous professional liability sometimes, called errors and omissions (E&O) liability, results from errors or omissions that are committed during the course in the performance of professional services. Companies that perform professional services for others can make mistakes, overlook a critical piece of information, misstate a fact, be misunderstood, forget to do something, lose something, and be sued by their clients..

Read more: statesideunderwriting.com.

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Media experts may consult on the media culture, media formats, media education, and related issues. On July 13, 2011, US Senate Bill 1354 — Healthy Media for Youth Act was introduced and deals with media literacy. The Center For Media Literacy writes:

Media literacy, therefore, is about helping students become competent, critical and literate in all media forms so that they control the interpretation of what they see or hear rather than letting the interpretation control them…. Len Masterman, the acclaimed author of Teaching the Media, calls it “critical autonomy” or the ability to think for oneself.

Read more: medialit.org.

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In Avoiding the $475,000 Mistake – Entering the Credit Bid attorney John L. Hosack, Buchalter Nemer, and mortgages expert witness Joffrey Long write:

How to proceed with your trustee’s sale:

In the case we referenced above, the total balance of all amounts due on the note was $575,000 and the property value was $500,000. You would open the bidding at $100,000. Instructions would then be issued to the trustee that should there be other bids at the sale, the trustee is to increase your credit bid in increments of $2,000, until either 1) the bidding reaches an amount acceptable to you or 2) you acquire the property. With no other bidders, the property reverts to you in exchange for your “giving up” only $100,000 or your debt. The other $475,000 has not been paid. Through this one simple maneuver, you’ve preserved the ability to pursue the collection of the remaining $475,000 of your debt from insurers, guarantors, or other parties to the transaction.

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In Defining Success in Risk Management Kathleen M. Beans, editor of the RMA Journal, and risk management expert writes:

Financial services leaders addressed two questions during an RMA chapter panel discussion this spring:

What do you mean by success at your enterprise and how does risk management contribute to that success?

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Insurance class action expert witnesses may testify on insurance regulations, professional liability insurance, agent errors and omissions, the insurance industry, and correlated topics. In Insurance May Cover Class Action Costs for Merchants Who Recorded Customers’ Zip Codes, attorneys Robert L. Wallan and Kimberly L. Buffington write:

The California Supreme Court’s Pineda v. Williams-Sonoma has already spawned a wave of class action lawsuits, many of which may constitute covered losses under a business’s Directors and Officers (D&O) or Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance policies.

Read more: Perspectives on Insurance Recovery Newsletter (Summer 2011).

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Professional liability insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on professional indemnity insurance, errors & omissions insurance, and malpractice insurance, among other topics. On the website Everything Small Business, find the article Small Business Liability Insurance – The 4 Types That You Need To Protect Your Business:

Other Types of Small Business Liability Insurance

Just as health insurance for small business is vital to the owner to protect the business entity, these types of insurances also work to protect the business against loss in the event of a third party claim. The type of business one owns will determine the type of insurance plans you will purchase.

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