Expert Witness Blog

In Creating a Sales Presence in the Global Marketplace, marketing strategy expert witness Glen Balzer writes:

Companies operating only in their home market or in a limited number of global markets understandably worry about entering a new foreign market. Risks are many and opportunities for problems are enormous. There is an additional risk of taking the corporate eye off the core business and revenue stream. What should a company planning to enter a foreign market do in order to protect itself from failure and improve its chances for success? A company can create an eight-step plan that includes:

1. Properly setting expectations 2. Developing a bank of resources 3. Studying local market norms 4. Hiring a country manager 5. Selecting a manufacturers’ representative 6. Negotiating a representative agreement 7. Preparing for fraud and scandal 8. Incorporating lessons from competitors

Homeowner’s insurance expert witnesses may write reports and testify on insurance claims, homeowners liability protection, hazard insurance, and associated areas of expertise. At Missouri Insurance Lawyer Blog, the law firm of Tatlow, Gump, Faiella & Wheelan LLC, write:

Many Missourians have experienced devastating losses as a result of the storms that have ravaged the southern portion of the state in recent weeks. Thousands of people will be filing insurance claims and we want to help make sure those claims are handled properly by explaining a few situations that could happen with your insurance claims. Here are just a few things to take into consideration:

1. Many insurance companies use a property damage estimating software program called Xactimate. Prices in the program are updated on a quarterly basis. When a large storm strikes it is not uncommon for labor and materials prices in the area of the storm to increase, sometimes rapidly. As a result the prices in the Xactimate program may be outdated at the time of the storm because of the sudden increase in prices. Check with your insurer who uses this or similar programs to determine if they have updated their prices to reflect the increase in the prices immediately following the storm. If not, ask that they do so; otherwise your repair estimate may not accurately reflect the exact cost of repairs.

Trucking software expert witnesses may testify on log book validation, mapping software and more. In Opinion: Across the Great ELD Divide, Billy Woolsey, President Midwest Compliance Inc. writes on ELD regulation:

Large and small carriers increasingly find themselves on opposite sides of a widening gulf when the topic is electronic logging devices – particularly when the issue is whether or not ELDs should be required by government mandate.

Large carriers tend to support the ELD regulation that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed. Smaller carriers, however, are less than thrilled by the possibility of such a mandate, unless the devices are required only as the result of a compliance review.

Commercial liability policies expert witnesses may opine on insurance claims, liability insurance and more. In Court of Appeals Rules on When Late Notice of a Claim Voids Coverage, Michael J. Rust writes:

On April 28, 2011, in Forshee v. Employers Mutual Casualty Company, the Georgia Court of Appeals found that a fact question existed as to whether Employers Mutual received timely notice of a claim arising out of a slip and fall at an insured convenience store. The Court overruled the trial court’s finding that the insured had not provided timely notice and decided that the issue was a factual dispute that a jury must decide. In its opinion, the Court established the standard to be considered by a trial court in a late notice case.

Read more: http://mjr-law.blogspot.com/.

Federal motor vehicle safety standards expert witnesses may write reports on crashworthiness, truck maintenance, and trucking and transportation rules and regulations. On their website, The O’Connell Law Firm, P.C. writes on dangerous truck drivers:

In late 2010, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) implemented an extensive new program to improve safety in the commercial trucking industry. Known as the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, the initiative focuses on identifying and sanctioning trucking companies with track records of risky driving in order to prevent future trucking accidents.

The CSA program evaluates trucking companies and keeps track of individual drivers. But, even though individuals are monitored, gaps in the system may allow unsafe truckers to remain behind the wheel.

Sales forecasting expert witnesses may testify on sales promotions, retail sales, sales revenues and more. Referenceforbusiness.com describes three important qualitative forecasting methods: the Delphi technique, scenario writing, and the subject approach.

DELPHI TECHNIQUE.

In the Delphi technique, an attempt is made to develop forecasts through “group consensus.” Usually, a panel of experts is asked to respond to a series of questionnaires. The experts, physically separated from and unknown to each other, are asked to respond to an initial questionnaire (a set of questions). Then, a second questionnaire is prepared incorporating information and opinions of the whole group. Each expert is asked to reconsider and to revise his or her initial response to the questions. This process is continued until some degree of consensus among experts is reached. It should be noted that the objective of the Delphi technique is not to produce a single answer at the end. Instead, it attempts to produce a relatively narrow spread of opinions-the range in which opinions of the majority of experts lie.

Insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on property insurance, homeowner’s insurance, and insurance companies. In the wake of homes destroyed throughout the country, attorneys at Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, explain replacement cost and extended replacement cost:

Unfortunately, many of those homeowners will soon discover that their insurance won’t cover all of their rebuilding cost.

Replacement cost. This covers the cost of repairing or replacing your home, based on a set dollar amount. However, one of the problems with this coverage is that it often times does not reflect the increase in the cost of construction and labor since you took out your policy in your community. If your community is destroyed by a natural disaster, then that means that there could be higher demand for such construction and labor needs, and that will inevitably push up the cost of repairing and replacing your home.