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In Insurexpert’s Blog, insurance customs expert witness David H. Paige, Esq, writes on whether the insurance broker has a duty to suggest that the insured purchase additional insurance coverage.

A continuing issue that has reappeared for years is the question of whether an insurance broker has an obligation to speak out and suggest to an insured that he should be purchasing more or different insurance. The courts have split on this question in different jurisdictions. As a latest example, a California court found that the defendant insurance agent did not have a duty to volunteer that an insured should procure different or additional coverage. Instead, as is the trend in many jurisdictions, the court stated that a duty to advise on additional insurance only arises under very specific circumstances. In California, the court found an expanded duty to advise arises when only one of three conditions is first met: (1) when the agent misrepresents the nature, extent or scope of the coverage being offered or provided, (2) when there is a request or inquiry by the insured for a particular type or extent of coverage, or (3) when the agent assumes an additional duty by either express agreement or by holding himself out as having expertise in a given field of insurance being sought by the insured.

Read more: thePaigeReport.

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In Environment, Highways to Benefit from ‘Safe and Efficient Transportation Act (SETA) of 2010, ATA trucking experts write:

The American Trucking Associations (ATA) strongly supports the “Safe and Efficient Transportation ACT (SETA) of 2010, S. 3705, introduced Aug. 4 by U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.). The legislation will allow states to authorize the operation of more efficient commercial trucks, resulting in safer highways, cleaner air and less costly freight transportation. Identical legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, H.R. 1799, currently has 54 co-sponsors.

The bill authorizes states to allow the operation of trucks on the Interstate Highway System with a gross weight of 97,000 pounds. Current law limits the weight of 5-axle trucks traveling on the Interstate System to 80,000 pounds. The legislation requires that trucks operating above 80,000 pounds must add a sixth axle to compensate for the extra weight. The extra axle adds additional braking capacity, preventing an increase in stopping distances, and prevents pavements from sustaining more damage.

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Insurance expert witnesses may opine on insurance practices, insurance claims, and insurance coverage. Here, insurance experts from Anderson Kill Wood & Bender write:

Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Experts Offer Advice on Changing Carriers and/or Brokers Every year as renewal day approaches, companies are faced with a difficult decision: do they renew with their incumbent insurance companies, or do they risk changing carriers to take advantage of lower rates, broader policy language or coverage add-ons? But the truth is, insurance carriers and brokers are helping businesses reach that decision every day of the year with their execution, their knowledge and their business practices.

With the soft market in insurance and the underlying economic unsteadiness of many carriers, there might never have been a time when so many companies are willing to question whether it is time to change insurance carriers or brokers. Even decades-long relationships can be tested in times such as these. And what if the incumbent carrier is exiting the market or unwilling to renew for another reason? Policyholders must move cautiously and comprehensively to avoid a lapse or gap in coverage.

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Rubber expert witnesses may opine on rubber consumer products, tires, and rubber piping. Here, experts at the Rubber Manufacturers Association comment on the EPA’s proposed rule on scrap tires.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a rule that would significantly harm the existing infrastructure that manages scrap tires as well as reverse two decades of environmental cleanup success, according to the Rubber Manufacturers Association (RMA).

After decades of EPA-sanctioned use as a supplemental industrial fuel, EPA is proposing now to declare whole scrap tires a solid waste. The new designation would require facilities using whole tire-derived fuel (TDF) to add costly new emission controls that would not be required to burn traditional, less efficient fuels. Instead of this option, many TDF users, likely will opt to stop using TDF in favor of more costly, less efficient and higher emitting traditional fossil fuels, including coal. This will likely result in a dramatic reduction of TDF use while driving tens of millions of scrap tires back to landfills, stockpiles and illegal dumping sites.

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Mortgage loans expert witnesses may opine on variable rate mortgages, reverse mortgages, and conventional mortgages, as well as related topics. Here, loan expert Tammye Trevifio, Administrator, Housing and Community Facilities Programs, writes on:

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Funding Notice

Many of you may be aware of recent legislation in which Congress provided USDA with authority to resume operating the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) at no cost to taxpayers. This was done through a combination of authority to: increase the upfront fee up to 3.5 percent of the principal obligation; charge a new annual fee of up to 0.5 percent of the outstanding principal balance; and waive payment of any fees for low and very low income borrowers up to a certain amount of loan guarantees.

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Trucking industry expert witnesses may opine on trucking and transportation rules and regulations and federal motor vehicle safety standards, as well as related issues. Here, experts at Truckinginfo.com report:

The U.S. District Court upheld the legality of controversial parts of the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program yesterday, which could open up the port truck drivers to unionization. But observers say there will likely be an appeal.

Last year, District Judge Christina Snyder granted the American Trucking Associations a preliminary injunction against certain concessions, including a ban on owner-operators at the port. While the ATA does support the Clean Truck Program’s environmental goals, the association argued that the concession plan imposes operational requirements that create a regulatory environment similar to state intrastate economic regulation and is thus against federal law.

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In Fuel Tax Continues to Provide Greatest Public Benefits, trucking experts at the American Transportation Associations write:

It is time to fix our crumbling transportation infrastructure by raising the gas tax, The Washington Post said in a recent editorial.

“By any measure, driving in the United States is cheap,” The Post said. “Driving today is substantially cheaper, in real terms, than it was about a generation ago…Americans spend just $19 on gas taxes per 1,000 miles driven — half of what they paid in 1975.” Highways are experiencing twice the usage, twice the wear and tear, for the same amount of money; it is a system which can not sustain itself and results in poorer roads for taxpayers. An expected freight boom over the next ten years will put an even greater strain on the nation’s vital transportation system.

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U.S. federal investigators are hearing testimonies from BP and Transocean officials in a probe into the cause of the rig explosion that led to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The hearings, jointly conducted by the U.S. Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, started Monday and will continue through Friday in Houston.

Marine engineering expert Neil Cramond, BP’s Gulf of Mexico marine authority official, testified that Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon had dozens of maintenance issues in an audit conducted seven months before the rig blast. BP had recommended a five-day suspension of operations on the rig after the audit but later recommended that the rig be put back into service even though not all the issues had been addressed.

Read more: xinhuanet.com.

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In Study Questions Use of Paid Medical Expert Witnesses in Malpractice Cases, Newswise.com writes:

Publication of the study, in the August 2010 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology, arrives as a fierce debate over medical malpractice reform that began more than 20 years ago continues to rage in the U.S.. It follows closely on the heels of a survey of physicians, published in June in Archives of Internal Medicine, in which 91 percent of respondents said they believed that “physicians order more tests and procedures than needed to protect themselves from malpractice suits.”

On the opposite side of the issue, plantiffs’ attorneys and other advocates for patients who have been injured by medical malpractice have argued with equal force and considerable success against many measures that have been proposed, such as caps on damages awards, to rein in the costs of malpractice litigation and discourage the practice of “defensive medicine.”

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The Virtual Chase, an online legal research website founded by law librarian Genie Tyburski, is now powered by Justia. The re-launched Virtual Chase features a new design, as well as additional online legal research and community resources for law librarians and other legal professionals. Legal resources on The Virtual Chase are now organized in four broad categories: Community, Legal Research, Law Libraries and Other Resources.

The Legal Research section provides federal and state law and government guides, links to general legal resources such as portals and search engines, and legal practice areas research guides. This section also includes resources on finding a lawyer, electronic discovery, and locating expert witnesses. Those interested in business research will find resource links to business news, company information and public company filings. Users may also browse through the extensive resources and public records available online to researchers.

The Virtual Chase also provides guidance to researchers on how to evaluate online sources through a series of articles and checklists on information quality.