Expert Witness Blog

Automotive braking expert witnesses may opine on brake failure, brake trouble, and related topics. In How well do you know your brakes? Peter D. duPre, iCARumba’s Content Editor, gives tips that will help you stop safely and alert you to possible brake problems:

Brake warning light — If the brake system warning light comes on while you are driving, it usually means you haven’t released the parking brake fully or have lost hydraulic pressure in one or both of the brake circuits. Check the parking brake first and if the light is still on, get the vehicle to a brake specialist quickly. I recommend slowing down, pulling over to the side, calling a tow truck.

Mushy pedal or no pedal — If the pedal feels mushy or falls to the floor, you’ve got a hydraulic problem that needs immediate attention. Don’t drive the vehicle. Call a tow truck and get the vehicle to a brake specialist immediately.

Insurance claims expert witnesses may opine on insurance companies, bad faith, liability insurance, and related topics. In When Insurers Hide Behind their Experts in Texas, Sergio V. Leal, Esq. writes:

In State Farm Lloyds v. Nicolau, 951 S.W.2d 444 (Tex. 1997) a homeowner filed a lawsuit against its insurer for foundation and other structural damage that resulted from a plumbing leak that introduced water into the clay subsoil. The insurer retained an expert, HAAG Engineering¸ to conduct a study on the homeowner’s claim. It was established in Nicolau that the insurer hired HAAG Engineering with the belief that HAAG Engineering generally believed that leaks beneath a house would not cause foundation movement. As expected, the HAAG engineer concluded that there was no damage near the leak, but evidence showed that his investigation was not thorough because: (1) he did not isolate the leak; (2) he failed to determine the leak’s severity; and (3) he did not take any soil samples. The HAAG report concluded that the plumbing leak had not caused the damage, and the insurer denied the claim based on the HAAG report.

Read more: http://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/

Spectroscopic analysis expert witnesses may write reports and opine on absorption spectroscopy, microwave spectroscopy, x-ray spectroscopy, and related topics. Here the American Society for Mass Spectrometry lists some of the uses for mass spectrometry:

* Detect and identify the use of steroids in athletes * Monitor the breath of patients by anesthesiologists during surgery * Determine the composition of molecular species found in space * Determine whether honey is adulterated with corn syrup * Locate oil deposits by measuring petroleum precursors in rock * Monitor fermentation processes for the biotechnology industry * Detect dioxins in contaminated fish * Determine gene damage from environmental causes * Establish the elemental composition of semiconductor materials Read more: asms.org.

Business income claims expert witnesses may advise on issues involving loss of revenue, insurance fraud, and related issues. Here Bruce D. Smith, CPA and certified fraud examiner explains:

What is a Forensic Accounting?

To quantify a Business Income loss, an analysis of pre- and post-loss revenue, costs and operating expenses is required. A competent forensic accountant will provide an adjuster, policyholder, or legal counsel with his/her knowledge and experience in matters, including, but not limited to: technical aspects of accounting rules and procedures and other related data, familiarity with policy terms and conditions, and establishment of accounting and document control procedures to ensure inclusion of all relevant data into the claim calculation.

Mass media expert witnesses may opine on newspapers, TV, magazines, and related topics. Here Robert Cox, President of the Media Bloggers Association writes:

Despite the recent financial market meltdowns, the winners coming out of the era were those that embraced the new technology, the new economics and freed themselves from the old model — often by setting up business that competed with themselves…. The only way in which traditional reporters can be more efficient than alternatives forms of media available over the internet is (1) breaking their own news stories and (2) providing analysis that only they are qualified to provide. This means more investigative reporting and more hyper-local news and more expert analysis. As Chris Matthews likes to say on this TV Show, “Tell me something I don’t know”.

Newspapers should dispense with reporting that duplicates what is already available on the internet and focus on unique news and information product.

Telemarketing expert witnesses may provide reports and opine concerning call center agents, computer telephony integration, the call center industry, and related issues. The Telemarketing Connections Newsletter discusses issues of concern to the industry. In the October / November 2010 issue, the newsletter addresses a Telephone Consumer Protection Act violation:

The Federal Communications Commission has issued a notice of apparent liability for forfeiture against Presidential Who’s Who, Inc. alleging at least 73 unsolicited advertisements using facsimile machines were sent in violation of the TCPA. The FCC found liability in the amount of $345,000. The sender of the faxes claimed that they were not advertisements. The FCC found that despite the sender’s claim that the faxes were merely a request for information for people to include their information to the publication free of charge, the faxes in question were a pretext to advertise a commercial product or service. The notice of apparent liability is an important discussion of offers of “free” services (and presumably other regulators) will consider them to be marketing calls if part of a campaign to later sell goods or services.

Read more: Telemarketing Connections Newsletter.

Sanitary engineering expert witnesses may write reports and opine on waste disposal, waste minimization, waste water, and related issues. In Understanding and Applying the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA), EHSwire asks the question, what does the Federal PPA require?

Facilities must account for their use of toxic chemicals and, where feasible, reduce their use. Toxic pollution that cannot be reduced should be recycled, and pollution that cannot be recycled should be disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

EHS professionals must have a firm understanding of the processes that use toxic chemicals in order to reduce their use. Documenting these activities is an important step in PPA compliance and must include an accounting for the final disposal of toxic chemicals. Generally this is done using the EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) Reporting Form R.

Wood products expert witnesses may write reports and opine on lumber, plywood, saw mills, pressed wood products, and related topics. The Wood Shop Consultancy offers ways to avoid disputes in Wood: Avoiding the pitfalls – How a basic understanding of timber technology can help to avoid problems in use:

One of the most important and yet least understood factors, is that of moisture content. Timber contains a large amount of water when it is freshly felled and it needs to be dried so that it can be used without excessive shrinkage and distortion. The amount of water in a piece of wood is referred to as its moisture content. This is expressed as a percentage of the dry weight of the piece, not of the total weight; hence it is possible to have moisture contents in excess of 100%.

The amount of water in wood rises and falls in response to changes in temperature and humidity, so it is not possible to prevent wood from expanding and contracting in service. However, this movement can be minimised by drying the wood to a level that it is likely to achieve in service, referred to as its equilibrium moisture content. As an example, indoor furniture would be expected to have a moisture content of around 8-10%, whilst external decking can be expected to attain an equilibrium of around 16% moisture content; this level would be subject to seasonal variations, becoming slightly higher in winter and lower in the summer.

On his website, waste management expert witness David Gossman offers GCI’s Tech Notes Library. Entries include:

Portland Cement 2010 NESHAP Final Rule – Mercury On September 9, 2010, EPA published in the Federal Register new PC MACT regulations. Of the standards, the new mercury emission limits and monitoring requirements will be one of the most difficult to comply with.