Expert Witness Blog

In Insurance 101 – Property – Casualty Basics, the American Insurance Association writes on liability claim costs:

Liability claim costs generally are broken down into two categories: 1) special damages, which include the claimant’s out-of-pocket expenses and lost wages; and, 2) general damages, which cover compensation for pain and suffering (often called non-economic damages). The claim representative/adjuster has the responsibility to offer a fair settlement to the injured party (whether first- or third-party), but can offer only up to the dollar limits of the policy. Once the claimant and company agree on the amount of loss, the company pays that amount (less the amount of a deductible in first-party claims). If there is disagreement over the claim, the matter may go to arbitration, mediation, or court for resolution.

Liability insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on insurance claims, damages, and other insurance matters.

Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. For instance, biotechnology is applied to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for large scale production of drugs.

White biotechnology refers to biotechnology applied to industrial processes. It involves the use of enzymes and organisms for the processing and production of chemicals, materials, and energy. Biochemical engineering expert witnesses may opine on production of bulk and fine chemicals, biofuels, and agricultural products.

Read more: biologyonline.org.

In A Law and Finance Analysis of Hedge Funds, finance expert Douglas Cumming, Associate Professor and Ontario Research Chair in the Schulich School of Business at York University, describes the paper on hedge funds he wrote with Na Dai, SUNY at Albany:

This paper empirically analyzes the impact of hedge fund regulation on fund structure and performance. The data indicate restrictions on the location of key service providers and permissible distributions via wrappers are associated with lower fund alphas, lower average monthly returns, and higher fixed fees. Further, restrictions on the location of key service providers are associated with lower manipulation-proof performance measures, while wrapper distributions are associated with lower performance fees. As well, the data show standard deviations of monthly returns are lower among jurisdictions with restrictions on the location of key service providers and higher minimum capitalization requirements.

Finance expert witnesses may opine on hedge funds, financial planning, structured finance, financial projections, and more.

Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. For instance, biotechnology is applied to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for large scale production of drugs.

Red biotechnology refers to the use of organisms for the improvement of medical processes. It includes the designing of organisms to manufacture pharmaceutical products like antibiotics and vaccines, the engineering of genetic cures through genomic manipulation, and its use in forensics through DNA profiling. Biotechnology expert witnesses may opine on antibiotics, genomic manipulation, genetic engineering, and more.

Read more: biologyonline.org.

In Insurance 101 – Property – Casualty Basics, the American Insurance Association writes:

The property casualty insurance industry provides protection from risk in two basic areas: protection for physical items, such as houses, personal possessions, cars, commercial buildings, and inventory (property), and protection against legal liability (casualty). Property insurance is a “first-party” coverage for losses related to a policyholder’s own person/property. Casualty (or liability) insurance is a “third-party” coverage for a policyholder’s legal obligations against losses the policyholder may cause to others.

These two basic types of coverage are written for both individuals or families (“personal lines” policies) and businesses (“commercial lines” policies). Personal lines policies include homeowners insurance, renters insurance, and vehicle coverage. For example, homeowners policies cover both fire damage to a house and/or contents, plus legal defense costs and liabilities should a person be injured on the policyholder’s property.

Wrongful death expert witness Barry Gustin, MD, MPH, FAAEP, writes on avoiding medical malpractice when patients are handed off to other physicians:

When patients are transferred from one doctor to another, or from an outpatient setting to a hospital or nursing home, there is an increased chance of a serious mishap that can lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit. Who is ultimately found liable for fumbling the patient handoff may be up to a jury to decide years after the event. Plaintiffs’ attorneys generally will sue everyone involved in the patients’ care – at least initially — regardless of their degree of accountability, until the facts are clear.

Problems with handoff communication are listed as one of the root causes in up to 70% of adverse sentinel events compiled by the Joint Commission. The potential for something to go wrong — needed follow-up care that slips through the cracks or vital information that isn’t communicated in a timely fashion — can have life or death impact for patients. It’s also a leading driver of malpractice lawsuits against health professionals.

Trucking industry expert witnesses may opine on the transportation and logistics industry. Here the American Trucking Association describes how trucks are responsible for the majority of freight movement over land, and are vital tools in the manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing industries.

With as many as 750,000 interstate motor carriers in the United States, the trucking industry is the driving force behind the U.S. economy. Trucking does the heavy lifting to move, through the supply chain, nearly everything we consume or use. Few Americans realize, however, that trucks deliver 70 percent of all freight tonnage or that 80 percent of U.S. communities receive their goods exclusively by truck. Even fewer know that the motor carrier industry provides jobs and generates significant personal income and tax revenue.

It takes nearly 9 million people to move about 11 billion tons of freight annually. Trucking collects more than $650 billion in revenue and represents about 5 percent of U.S. Gross Domestic Product. One out of every 13 people working in the private sector in the United States is employed in a trucking-related job across manufacturing, retail, public utility, construction, service, transportation, mining and agricultural sectors. Of those, 3.5 million are commercial drivers, averaging $50,000 annually. Some earn well above $100,000 per year.

In Insurance 101 – Property – Casualty Basics, the American Insurance Association writes:

Risk has two key dimensions- frequency and severity-and both help determine insurability. Frequency relates to how often a loss occurs, i.e., whether the risk/event is common or relatively rare. Severity relates to how costly losses resulting from that risk could be, i.e., whether they could be relatively inexpensive or truly catastrophic in nature. insurance can be an appropriate method of risk transfer for low-frequency, high-severity losses (e.g., house fires or tornadoes), as well as for high-frequency, low-severity losses (e.g., motor vehicle crashes). However, insurance may not be the most appropriate method for treating all risks facing individuals and businesses.

For example, insurance could be too expensive for certain risks (low-frequency, low-severity) or unavailable for other risks (such as high-frequency, high-severity risks, or risks whose frequency and/or severity is difficult to predict, such as terrorism). Additionally, insurance may be unable to fully compensate for a loss (e.g., the destruction of family photos, which have great emotional value but little financial value).