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Bank of America Corp. received a blow from U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in their civil trial with the SEC, as Rakoff granted a request from the SEC to forbid finance expert witnesses for Bank of America to use media reports to support their claims that shareholders were aware of the huge bonuses Merrill Lynch & Co. were offering their top executives.

The trial stems from the same judge who threw out a $33 million settlement between the SEC and Bank of America last year, clearing the way for the civil trial. In the case of two of the witnesses for Bank of America, they were going to use media reports as their primary evidence for asserting shareholders had knowledge of the circumstances surrounding the bonuses offered by Merrill Lynch.

For more, see americanbankingnews.com.

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The Ohio Supreme Court recently approved new rules governing pretrial procedures that will help ensure those convicted of crimes are truly guilty, according to Thomas Moyer, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. The amendment to Rule 16 of the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure will require greater sharing of evidence between prosecutors and defense attorneys before trial.

One of the major rule changes relates to witness statements, which prosecutors are currently allowed to withhold until trial. Under the new law, witness statements would have to be shared with defense counsel ahead of time, along with other information from police reports. Defense attorneys have complained for the past 35 years that county prosecutors in Ohio have had an unfair advantage because they could withhold certain evidence.

Defense attorneys would be required to hand over witness statements they have obtained. Their criminology expert witnesses would also be required to provide written reports before trial or else they would not be allowed to testify.

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Professional engineering expert witnesses may opine on ISO 9000. Here is a summary of ISO9000 from the ISO9000 Council.

The ISO 9000 Quality Manual

The standard requires companies to write an ISO 9000 quality manual that defines how each requirement of the rather broad ISO 9001:2008 standard is applied at the company. In a sense, the ISO 9000 quality manual is a company specific version of the standard.

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Trucking and transportation rules and regulations expert witness Michael K. Napier of Napier Diversified Services, Inc., answers the question “What are some of the causes of tractor-trailer collisions?”

There are many different reasons for accidents involving large trucks include negligence on the part of the truck driver or the other vehicles involved. Others include:

* Aggressive drivers * Unrealistic schedules * Failure to inspect tires, brakes and lights * Tailgating * Long work-shifts * Driver fatigue * Cell phone use * Failure to install blind spot mirrors * Jackknifing * Speeding and ignoring reduced truck speed limit

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Federal motor carrier safety regulations expert witness Michael K. Napier of Napier Diversified Services, Inc., answers the question “What are some of the dangers associated with large trucks on the roadways?”

* No-Zones – Large trucks have no-zones, or blind spots, that are located around the front, back, and sides of the truck. When a car is in the No-Zone, the truck driver is usually unable to see it. At these times, a large truck could turn into a passing car and a serious accident could result.

* Squeeze Play – Tractor-trailer trucks need to swing wide to the left in order to negotiate a right turn. When truck drivers make wide right turns; they are often unable to see smaller vehicles directly behind or beside them. When a car cuts between the truck and a curb, the car can be caught in a squeeze, and a serious accident can occur.

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Federal motor vehicle safety standards expert witness Michael K. Napier of Napier Diversified Services, Inc., answers the question, What is the applicable law that relates to the commercial trucking industry?

The FHWA is the government agency responsible for the issuance, administration, and enforcement of Federal Motor Carrier Regulations (FMCSR). The FMCSRs are found at 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Parts 325, 350, and 382-399. The Hazardous Materials Regulations for motor carriers are found at 49 CFR Parts 100-180. In addition, 49 CFR Part 40 regulates drug and alcohol testing requirements for motor carriers.

All carriers engaged in interstate commerce within the United States, even if from Mexico or Canada, must comply with these federal regulations. The laws of Mexico and Canada, which are less stringent than in the United States, do not apply to Mexican and Canadian trucks driving in the United States, although some interesting North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) issues are raised when trying to make the truck sizes and weights compatible between the countries.

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National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including radiology nursing. In Medical malpractice liability reform-no easy task expert witnesses at National Medical Consultants continue from January 1st blog posts:

The strategies described above do not constitute an exhaustive list of tactics implemented by states to achieve medical malpractice reform. For example, a number of states are encouraging health care providers to apologize to the patient for the medical error by prohibiting such action from being considered as an admission of guilt in future legal actions. (15) Furthermore, states are increasingly searching for new ways to address this issue as a means not only to reduce costs but also to promote patient safety, ameliorate the potentially litigious nature of the provider-patient relationship, encourage the consistent use of best practices, and to evaluate how the practices of other interested parties, such as insurance companies, affect the crisis of medical malpractice liability.

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National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including operating room nursing nursing. In Medical malpractice liability reform-no easy task expert witnesses at National Medical Consultants continue from January 1st blog posts:

Reasons to resolve medical malpractice claims through alternative dispute resolution include the parties’ ability to control the procedure (eg, time, place); reduced costs; shortened time to resolve the dispute; reduced emotional trauma compared to litigation; and preservation or maintenance of the relationship between the parties. (14) Alternative dispute resolution requirements do pose some concerns, however, including whether patients receive full compensation for their injuries such as they might through litigation, whether patients are intimidated into premature settlements, and whether these pretrial negotiations serve merely to delay inevitable litigation.