Expert Witness Blog

Insurance claims expert witnesses may testify on insurance adjusters, insurance agencies, and insurance fraud. In their Publication and Resource Library, United Policyholders, a non-profit organization information resource for insurance consumers in all 50 states writes:

Welcome to our library where you’ll find useful guides, articles, samples and examples in plain language about topics related to insurance. Our publications are based on our organization’s many years of hands-on experience working with individual consumers. They include information from experts; insurance industry insiders, agents and brokers, attorneys, consumer advocates and public adjusters. Because UP is not-for-profit and not for sale, our tips are unique and valuable. We have no hidden agenda. By using the buttons on the left side of this page you can find buying tips, claim tips, links and other resources. Visit the “Shortcuts” section for help solving common problems.

Read more: http://uphelp.org/

Hours of service expert witnesses may write reports and testify on commercial motor vehicles, trucking safety, commercial motor vehicles, and correlated topics. In Chasing the Silver Bullet: Measuring Driver Fatigue Using Simple and Complex Tasks, the Northwestern University Transportation Center shares their research regarding Human Performance in Transportation Safety.

Established in 1954 by industry representatives, Northwestern University Transportation Center was the first university transportation center in the U.S. Since then, the Center has been recognized as a leading interdisciplinary education and research institution.

Read more: transportation.northwestern.edu

In The Case for Forensic Polygraph Testing in Post-Adjudication Sexual Offender Examination and Management, polygraph expert witness Ken Blackstone writes:

Scientifically based studies have concluded that the carefully administered, “forensic” or single-issue (one relevant issue) polygraph exam, conducted properly and optimally by a qualified examiner, is 89 to 92 percent accurate. It is the most accurate tool available today for determining truth or deception. When any reduction from the disciplined rigors of forensic polygraph examination occurs, the reliability of the results can and must be called into question.

However, in the post-adjudication sexual offender setting, a less rigorous “utility” approach is often taken and the accuracy of polygraph results diminishes for a number of reasons. The training, skills and discipline of the examiner are typically lower; the purpose of the examination may be far different and more exploratory; the questions are more generalized, ambiguous, and sometimes confusing. The accuracy of a 91% accurate exam is now 50-50.

Liability insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on commercial liability policies, professional liability insurance, and small business liability insurance. On the website Everything Small Business, find the article Small Business Liability Insurance – The 4 Types That You Need To Protect Your Business:

Which Is The Right Small Business Liability Insurance?

How can one choose what type of insurance they need? It involves a process of determining what you need to protect in your establishment and what kinds of risks you’re able to incur.

In Guaranteed Maximum Contracts construction expert witness Paul Gogulski explains the the G-Max contract:

Still another advantage of G-Max occurs when work must start ahead of final drawings. There are often issues that delay completion of the drawings and therefore start of construction. The G-Max format allows owners to minimize risk when proceeding with work ahead of final drawings. It has been my experience to start work on 30 percent completed drawings while obtaining a G-Max price for the entire project based on preliminary drawings and outline specifications. That’s an extreme example, but it does happen.

Insurance fraud expert witnesses may testify on insurance claims, insurance regulations, and associated matters. On their website, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud writes:

What is Fraud?

Insurance fraud occurs when people deceive an insurance company or agent to collect money to which they aren’t entitled. Similarly, insurers and agents also can defraud consumers, or even each other. Insurance fraud can be “hard” or “soft.”

In Distributor & dealer litigation: How to win cases through the evaluation of the distributor and/or dealer’s performance, marketing expert witness Don E. Smith, President, American Consulting Group, LLC, writes:

THE LIMITATIONS OF USING SALES QUOTAS AS THE PRIMARY MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE A. Often the dominant measure of performance. Frequently a single value.

B. Often defined with very limited information. Can be difficult to defend.

On his website, trucking expert witness Lew Grill, the SAGE Corporation, offers a calculator for horse power:

HORSEPOWER: A unit for measuring the power of motors and engines. one horsepower is the work done at the rate of 33,000 foot-pounds per minute and it is equivalent to 746 watts. It is the power estimated to lift 33,000 pounds one foot high in one minute.

Hours of service expert witnesses may write reports and testify on commercial motor vehicles, trucking safety, commercial motor vehicles, and correlated topics. In Perception of Simulated Driving Performances After Sleep Restriction and Caffeine the Northwestern University Transportation Center shares their research regarding Human Performance in Transportation Safety.

OBJECTIVE: As feelings of alertness are reported to be highly correlated with performance perception, the objective of this study was to determine whether caffeine, a common countermeasure to driver sleepiness, affected a sleepy driver’s ability to monitor his or her simulated driving performance.

Read more: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18061746.

In The Case for Forensic Polygraph Testing in Post-Adjudication Sexual Offender Examination and Management, polygraph expert witness Ken Blackstone writes:

In a post-adjudication setting a convicted or committed offender is expected to take periodic polygraph examinations to encourage candor and discourage any lapse or relapse during treatment and supervision. The use of the polygraph in the evaluation and management of convicted and committed sex offenders is of great interest; treatment providers will often agree that the polygraph is the only existing tool for measuring behavior and supervising officers see the polygraph as a way of keeping offenders accountable. A periodic post-adjudication polygraph examination in the community can be used to assess a variety of issues that may include precursors to a reoccurrence and whether the convicted person should be considered for early release of parole or a relaxation of probation controls. These post-adjudication situations are similar in that these examinations will seldom address a specific “issue at hand” and while they are an option the only other option is prison.

Ken Blackstone is an expert regarding polygraph examinations. He is the author of the book Polygraph, Sex Offenders, and the Court (2011, Emerson Books ISBN 978-061-5506-80-7). www.blackstonepolygraph.com