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Medical expert witnesses may consult regarding different specialty areas of medicine including surgery, anesthesiology, independent medical exams (IMEs), cancer treatment, and related topics. A medical expert at the Weill Cornell Medical College recently published an article weighing the pros and cons of using radioactive iodine ablation after partial or total thyroidectomies. Stanley Goldsmith, director of the school’s Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, wrote in the journal Seminars in Nuclear Medicine that an individual approach should be taken when using the treatment, since different patients often have radically different symptoms.

In particular, Goldsmith said that low-risk patients – those who do not have an advanced form of thyroid cancer – may not require post-operative ablation at all, or only in low doses at most. That being said, he added that defining “low risk” can be problematic. Ablation with radioactive iodine involves taking one or a series of pills containing iodine-131, a radioactive isotope of the element.

Read more: endocrineweb.com.

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Insurance expert witnesses may opine on HMOs, property insurance, insurance regulations, and related topics. Don Brown, an authority in Florida’s property insurance market debate writes:

Florida hasn’t seen a hurricane in five years, but over that time the public has seen insurance companies filing bankruptcy, going insolvent, and leaving the state. The property insurance market has gotten so bad due to choking state regulation and suppressed rates that if a storm or fire destroys your home there’s a risk your claim won’t be paid.

There’s also a rising tide of media reports covering the sinkhole threat facing Florida’s homeowners. “Don’t believe the rhetoric that we have a sinkhole crisis in Florida, because we don’t. The more accurate assessment is we have a sinkhole claims crisis that has created a cottage industry that threatens Florida consumers,” Brown said.

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

Depending on the reason for the valuation, there are various factors that need to be considered, some of which are contained in the descriptions of the terms listed below. If an independent business valuation expert is called upon to assist in establishing a value and/or opine to a value, he or she must have access to all relevant information to be able to determine which factors apply in the particular situation. The attorney and client need to allow and encourage open communication between themselves and the valuator. Too often the intentions of the parties are not apparent, understood or properly articulated, and the facts and circumstances surrounding the true purpose of the valuation are not adequately disclosed. Also, the valuator should know the identities of all the parties to, and affected by, the valuation. Certainly, the valuator has a responsibility to seek all information necessary to do a thorough job, but all other parties involved have to be willing to collaborate in the effort of providing whatever information they and the valuator may deem to be pertinent.

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JurisPro, Inc., the expert witness directory formed by a group of practicing attorneys, celebrates its 11th year. JurisPro, Inc. (www.JurisPro.com) is a professional marketing company that maintains a free online directory of over 1600 expert witnesses. At JurisPro, you can read the expert’s CV, see their photo, learn their background, hear them speak, and contact them by phone, email, fax, or mail.

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Liability policies expert witnesses may testify regarding insurance loss claims, insurance policy coverage, liability policies, and related topics. In The Insurer’s Duty to Defend: A Quick Analysis, attorney Thomas H. Veitch, partner with the law firm of Langley & Banack, Inc. in San Antonio, writes:

The duty to defend is distinct from and broader than the duty to indemnify.

Even though a duty to defend exists, there may be no duty to indemnify.

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

Attorneys often need to help their clients establish values for businesses or business interests. This article discusses some of the issues which need to be addressed before attempting to arrive at business values. Some examples of situations in which business values may need to be established, particularly in connection with the practice of law, are:

♦ Drafting or assistance with implementing buy-sell provisions in agreements between and among shareholders, partners and limited liability company members.

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In Optimizing Your Use of Banking and Financial Institution Experts, banking expert witness Michael F. Richards writes:

Three Critical Expert Questions After the expert has had a chance to review the documents and reconstruct what happened there are three distinct questions the retained attorney should ask their expert.

1) The most obvious is, what did you find that was done wrong?

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In Are You Waiting Too Long To Hire An Expert?, construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Provide the expert with enough advance notice that you require his or her services. A well- rationalized, logical opinion and conclusion must take into account a large number of factors. I have worked on many of the cases where, on simply reviewing and reflecting back on the facts and evidence, I realized and discovered additional evidence, which solidified and confirmed my opinions and conclusions.

Finally, there is the all important expert report. A logical, detailed, well-structured and well- written report can promote settlement. On the other hand, a hurried expert analysis is frequently flawed, inconsistent and poorly written, allowing an opposing attorney to have a field day questioning as to inaccuracies and conflicting statements and challenging the credibility of the expert. Allowing the expert sufficient time to make sure his or her thoughts are clear and all the pertinent facts along with opinion, conclusions and supporting evidence are presented in an easy to read and understandable fashion is essential.

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Public storage security experts may opine on self-storage managers, public storage vandalism, miniwarehouse break-ins and related topics. In Preventing Crime and Acts of Terrorism in Self-Storage: Using Products and Services Approved for the SAFETY ActJason Benedict, Iveda Solutions writes:

Many storage operators claim their facilities are secure, but their measures often appear meager to trespassers, criminals and vandals looking to commit their next crime. Commonly used tools have their weaknesses: gate codes can be observed or distributed, alarms can experience false positives, video cameras are rarely monitored around the clock, and even well-lit perimeters and fences have their fallacies, such as missing links and broken light bulbs….

Third-Party Video Surveillance

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Lawsuit funding expert witnesses may opine on litigation finance, litigation financial options and attorneys fees, among other topics. Here, attorney Julian Strauss answers the question: What is lawsuit funding?

If you are like most people, you probably did not know lawsuit funding existed until you found yourself in a situation where you needed it. So what is lawsuit funding? It is a cash advance against the expected settlement of a lawsuit. In other words, it is an advance on the settlement of a case that has NOT yet settled. This not to be confused with the purchase of future payments from a case that has already settled. These future payments are known as a “structured settlement”. Lawsuit funding are advances on cases that have yet to settle. These advances are sometimes also called a “lawsuit loan” or “pre-settlement lawsuit funding”.

Read more: chflawsuitfunding.com.