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In Construction Hazards – Early Identification and Risk Control, electrical expert witness Gregory W. Miller, P.E., B.S.E.E, writes:

The tragedies associated with construction project losses give us the opportunity to reflect on the incident causes. In many cases we can use our hindsight to view the “coulda’s”, “shoulda’s” and “if-only’s” that might have made the difference early in the project. As a result of these necessary and sometimes profitable incident reviews, a tool has developed that is in use by many construction agencies. That tool we refer to as a “Hazard Identification Program”. It may also be known by other names, but the basic concept is the early identification and control of construction site hazards. The purpose for early identification is to facilitate the elimination or control of the hazard risk prior to construction mobilization.

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In When the Phone Rings … Twelve Questions for Prospective Expert Witness Assignments, insurance expert witness Kevin M. Quinley, CPCU, ARM, AIC, writes:

(12) How did you find me? The answer can be valuable “intel” about your marketing and where you get the most bang for your promotional buck. Did the lawyer find you through a paid ad, a directory, an Internet listing, a Google search, by word of mouth? How? Keep track of how you get referrals. Consider beefing up your investment in those media. This question helps you fine tune your business development efforts, though chances are you may want to have fishing lines in each of these marketing “ponds” to maximize the odds of getting calls.

This is not an exhaustive list, and some of these questions may be unnecessary, depending on what the prospective client covers in the initial discussions. Other consultants and experts may adapt this template to the needs of a particular case. Getting these questions out in the open and getting straight answers can help the expert make a fully informed decision about accepting a case and determining the appropriate pricing approach.

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The staff at Portland House Nursery, Huddersfield County, UK, who tried desperately to save tragic toddler Adam Milner could not have been expected to know exactly what to do, a medical expert has said. Dr Michael Bell, a Leeds intensive care consultant, gave expert evidence at the inquest at Bradford Coroners’ Court into the death of two-year-old Adam. He said: “These individuals are not health care practitioners and are not working in a health care setting.

Adam is thought to have died after choking on a piece of sausage while having his lunch at Portland House Nursery in Lindley on August, 19, 2009. A postmortem report showed that after choking on a foreign body Adam was starved of oxygen and had a heart attack.

Read More http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/local-west-yorkshire-news/2011/03/03/portland-house-nursery-staff-did-all-they-could-for-adam-milner-86081-28269002/#ixzz1FliKXv6R

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In What the Defendant Can Do Wrong, security management and risk management expert witness Ira Somerson, BCFE, CPP, CSC, writes that the mission of security management (loss prevention) will be below a standard security industry practice if it fails to:

■ Identify reasonably foreseeable risks.

■ Test and continue to monitor the existing security program in response to the foreseeable levels of risk.

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Insurance claims expert witnesses may opine on insurance policy interpretation, insurance fraud, and related topics. In 8 Great Ways to Get Busted for Auto Insurance Fraud, Insurance.com writes:

4. Claim whiplash from an accident when you don’t have bumper damage.

(Bonus points if you weren’t even hit from behind.) SIU accident investigators can tell what kind of damage you and your car are likely to sustain from a collision. If you weren’t hit hard enough or from the right angle, they’ll know you’re making a false auto insurance claim.

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Florida state health regulators have imposed an emergency license restriction on Dr. Zannos Grekos for using experimental stem cell therapy on a breast cancer patient in his Bonita Springs practice last year, resulting in the woman’s death, according to the state’s order.

“The use of unorthodox stem cell transfusions for diseases that have shown no benefit can be extremely dangerous…” a medical expert witness retained by the state Department of Health said about the Grekos case involving the breast cancer patient. “I felt that his care was substandard and dangerous.”

Read more: naplenews.com.

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In When the Phone Rings … Twelve Questions for Prospective Expert Witness Assignments, risk management expert witness Kevin M. Quinley, CPCU, ARM, AIC, writes:
(11) When is it likely that expert depositions would be taken? Have dates been set? If not, would my deposition likely be taken in the next 30 days? Sixty days? Ninety days? This can be handy to know in terms of your own preparation, especially in conjunction with the amount of documents or materials you may need to review on a given case. A compressed time frame may also impact your fee structure, based on the idea that rush jobs cost more and merit premium pricing. Ask if the court has entered a scheduling order and, if so, determine the deadlines for depositions.

Kevin M. Quinley is a leading authority on insurance issues, including risk management, claims, bad faith, coverages and litigation management. He is the author of more than 600 articles and 10 books. You can reach him through http://www.insuranceexpertnetwork.com/.

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In Important Issues of Business Valuations For Attorneys and Their Clients finance expert witness Richard Teichner, CPA, CVA, CDFAJ, writes:

Certain Terms Applying to Valuations

To aid the attorney and client during the process of establishing a business value, the following is a summary of some of the terms that generally apply to valuations:

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In What the Defendant Can Do Wrong, security management and risk management expert witness Ira Somerson, BCFE, CPP, CSC, writes that “failing to preface your security plan with a risk assessment would violate standard security industry practices. If your risk assessment lacks sufficient qualitative (unscientific) or quantitative (scientific) analysis, it probably will be below a standard security industry practice.”

Standard Security Practice

The variety and causes of security risks are considerable. For that reason, some formal process must precede any security program implementation. A security program’s design needs to be based upon deterring, detecting, delaying, denying, responding to, and/or recovering from reasonably foreseeable events. The fact that anomalous events do occur should not excuse or rationalize a property owner from not first performing adequate planning. It is inevitable that a property owner will fail to recognize every risk or that an event will not occur in spite of adequate planning. But the fact that an adequate process was not used to identify the levels of risk places a property owner’s security plan in a far more egregious posture. Failing to preface your security plan with a risk assessment would violate standard security industry practices (standard of care). If your risk assessment lacks sufficient qualitative (unscientific) or quantitative (scientific) analysis, it probably will be below a standard security industry practice.

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A building engineering expert says the devastating Christchurch quake was “pretty much a bullseye.” Professor John Wilson, chair of the Australian earthquake loading standard and deputy dean of engineering at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, said the quake struck right at the heart of Christchurch.

“It was so close to Christchurch that we weren’t surprised to see significant damage, at that close range the level of shaking is quite severe.” The magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck at 12.51pm, and strong aftershocks have shaken the city since.”We expected the older buildings with unreinforced masonry to suffer — their masonry is heavy, brittle and vulnerable to earthquake shaking,” Prof Wilson said.

Read more: www.voxy.co.nz