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Insect pathology expert witnesses may write reports and provide testimony on pest control standard of care, insect pathology, pest control, and related topics. The National Resources Institute explains that insect pathology is the study of disease in insects.

The rationale behind the investigation of diseases that attack insect pests is that the causative organisms can be used as “natural insecticides” for controlling these pests without resorting to the use of toxic chemical insecticides. They are natural, specific and completely safe to man, domestic animals and crops. They are also harmless to other non-target insects such as bees, predators, parasitoids and other beneficial species. These pathogens can be mass produced using simple techniques that are appropriate for developing countries, thus enabling these countries to develop their own low-cost alternatives to expensive, imported and often environmentally-damaging chemical pesticides.

Read more: nri.org.

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Marketing expert witnesses may opine on marketing effectiveness, marketing research, marketing strategy, and more. At Expert Communications.com, Rosalie Hamilton provides methods for experts to find prospect attorneys, companies and insurers that need their expert consultant services. Here, an expert witness contributes to ExpertCommunications.blogspot.com:

My retainer agreement not only lists the fees and scope of my work, but I also have a clause (in bold) that expressly forbids the attorney from disclosing me as an expert witness if the attorney has not retained me. This happened many times in my early career, and that is why I put it into my retainer agreement. The clause also states I will take action against the attorney if I am listed without being retained. This clause has stopped attorneys from listing me as expert without retaining me. In addition, I have proof that I sent them the retainer agreement, thus I know my clause has been read. [editor’s note: see other experts’ experiences on being designated without permission in this past discussion.]

Read more: http://expertcommunications.blogspot.com/.

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Tree care expert witnesses may opine on certified arborists, diagnosis and treatment of tree diseases, forestry, and related topics. In Chipping Away at Chipper Safety, Rick Howland writes:

The tree care industry can be a dangerous one, but is becoming less so as the days go on, thanks to two things that can work independently or in concert with one another: Safer equipment and better operator training.

The chipper is a perfect example. You might think you recognize all the improvements that have been made in chipper technology over the years, but you are likely to be wrong. Sure, you can click off the major steps in safety and training, but there is some very subtle, very effective engineering that’s working on your behalf, thanks in large part to a savvy manufacturing group that wants you and your employees to be efficient in your job and safe enough to, yes – go home to your family each night, but also to come back and buy more, bigger and better machines.

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Arborist expert witnesses may testify on tree pruning, arboriculture, and tree removal safety, among other topics. In Who is Responsible for Safety?, Carl Potter of the Tree Care Industry Association writes on how accidents happen:

You know safety procedures require you to wear eye protection but it’s all the way back at the truck, so you’ll go ahead without them – just this once. You make the decision to do this job without the proper equipment and start sawing. Debris flies up and hits you in the face and now you have something in your eye. You go back to the truck and look in the mirror, trying to clean your eye. You’re thinking the whole time that you should have worn your glasses, because you are in trouble. Now you have to go to the doctor and will have an OSHA recordable. Your boss is going to be mad.

Read more: treecareindustry.org.

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Risk assessment expert witnesses may provide reports regarding value at risk, risk management plans, and the risk management process. In Newly released ISO/IEC 27005:2011 helps improve risk management, DISC InfoSec blog writes:

Newly released ISO/IEC 27005:2011 helps improve risk management ISO 27005:2011, the newly released international information security risk management standard, is now available to the international community of business continuity and information security practitioners.

Information security risk management is one of the core competencies of information security. This Standard is an essential companion to ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002 and replaces ISO/IEC 27005:2008.

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Silicone breast implant expert witnesses may write reports and testify on silicone products, silicone gel-filled implants, and silicone-rubber materials. HoustonPressBlogs reports that Houston-based pharmaceutical injury lawyer Ed Blizzard was a chief negotiator in a 1990s case against Dow Corning and helped to win a $3.2 billion settlement in the silicone breast implant case. In 1991 Dow lost the lawsuit filed by Mariann Hopkins who claimed her implants had ruptured and damaged her immune system. Thomas Talcott, a former Dow Corning engineer, to testified as an expert witness on her behalf.

Blizzard is now representing about 50 people against Johnson & Johnson over what Dr. Thomas Joyce, a biomedical engineering professor at Newcastle University (UK), recently called “the biggest disaster in the history of orthopedics.” In 2010, The New York Times exposed Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopedics for surgically implanting faulty artificial hips that were designed to last 15 years or more, but instead failed after just a few years. “What has happened is the friction of metal on metal has caused a shedding of metal debris that causes bone erosion and tissue death,” says Blizzard.

Read more: blogshoustonpress.com.

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Marketing expert witnesses may opine on marketing effectiveness, marketing research, marketing strategy, and more. At Expert Communications.com, Rosalie Hamilton provides methods for experts to find prospect attorneys, companies and insurers that need their expert consultant services. ExpertCommunications.blogspot.com writes:

Following Rosalie’s June newsletter article, “How Much to Say in the Initial Inquiry Call,” several experts sent me their own “initial call” procedures. Here is one so clear and comprehensive, I wanted to share it:

When a new attorney calls me and tells me general information about a case he has, I listen politely, I take notes to protect myself, and then I offer to send the attorney a copy of my CV, my Rule 26 disclosure, and a standard copy of my retainer agreement. Since the attorney calling always wants to know what my rates are, I simply tell them I will forward the retainer agreement, and all costs are fully disclosed. I then email all the documents to the “new” attorney.

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Trucking industry expert witnesses may opine on qualifications of truck drivers, federal motor vehicle safety standards, as well as related issues. In Electronic On-Board Recorders: More Than Just HOS Compliance, Field Technologies Online writes:

The trucking industry is facing substantial reforms in the face of recent regulatory activity concerning Hours of Service (HOS) compliance and Electronic On-Board Recorder (EOBR) requirements. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has proposed new rules for EOBR use. Beginning June, 2012, the FMCSA will require truckers with a 10-percentor greater HOS violation rate during a single compliance review to install EOBRs on all their vehicles to track driver hours. Whether this rule will extend to all motor carriers in the future remains to be seen.

Read more: Field Technologies Online.

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Risk management expert witnesses may testify on value at risk, risk management plans, and the risk management process, among other topics. In the introduction to Effective Strategies for Risk Management, Verisign writes:

Information security now demands a significant level of attention from organizations, but the traditional approach of identifying risk in purely technical terms has proven insufficient. Today, organizations must consider the areas that truly affect information security and integrate those findings into an overall risk management program to ensure effective and appropriate technology spending.

Read more: verisign.com.