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In All Should Use Greater Care Handling Underwriting Information, insurance expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

In some instances, there may be an appearance of misrepresentation or omission due to the failure by the insurer to clarify responses to application questions. When presented with ambiguous or conflicting information, it behooves insurers to seek clarification prior to binding coverage or issuing the policy. For example, when an applicant found an application question inapplicable to its business, he amended it in a good faith attempt to provide accurate and complete information, and the insurer issued the policy without seeking clarifications. When a claim occurred, the insurer denied it, citing the answer to the modified question as evidence of misrepresentation.

In certain circumstances only litigation can resolve allegations of misrepresentation or omission. However, the exercise of greater care in obtaining and preparing underwriting information by applicants or brokers, and clarification of ambiguous information by insurers can substantially reduce the number of cases requiring litigation and inevitable delays and costs.

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In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

First of all, it doesn’t matter whether you’re operating in a recession or in the most robust economy imaginable. The fact is that if your hotel doesn’t meet guest expectations, if it’s inferior to other, similarly priced properties in your market-well then, you need to upgrade. In fact, if you think you’re being fiscally responsible by not upgrading your hotel’s public spaces and guestrooms right now, you’re mistaken. Failing to renovate could lead to an irreversible decline in guest satisfaction and loyalty-and that scenario, obviously, will destroy your bottom line.

Here’s another piece of advice for hotel owners and operators: It’s crucial that you have in-depth knowledge of your property’s competitive position in the market. You have to take a thoughtful-and brutally honest-look at the quality of your hotel. Ask yourself if the property meets the needs of today’s increasingly demanding guest. How does your hotel compare with nearby (and perhaps much newer) properties? If your hotel isn’t cutting the mustard qualitywise, its future-and yours-is looking very dim.

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After being convicted of premeditated first degree murder, Jeremy Hull took his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. The reason the defense is appealing the case has to do primarily with their belief that the Mille Lacs County District Court should have granted a Frye hearing in regards to fingerprinting and handwriting evidence.

Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Kimberly Parker argued that a Frye hearing is for novel or emerging techniques and that the report Carlson referred to is not novel or emerging and that it’s the burden of the defense to prove there is novel or emerging techniques. “There’s nothing new here,” she said. But a judge countered that the report is saying the technique is in question and not necessarily valid. The assistant attorney general also pointed out that the defense had an opportunity at trial to attack the handwriting issue, but they did not provide handwriting expert witness testimony to say it wasn’t his handwriting.

For more, see MilleLacsCountyTimes.com.

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Medical expert witness and Chief Editor of web-based emedicine Dr. Erik Schraga would like legal professionals and experts to know that emedicine offers continually updated clinical reference information which may prove useful in cases they are working on. The following excerpt on cardiology provides information on atrial fibrillation medicolegal pitfalls.

Medicolegal Pitfalls

* Proper anticoagulation is extremely important in both paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation.

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In All Should Use Greater Care Handling Underwriting Information, insurance customs expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

The need for greater care with handling of underwriting information is not limited to applicants and brokers. Insurers should ask all pertinent questions in the application form because, in many instances, the applicant may be aware of important underwriting information but does not disclose it simply because it was not asked.

Application questions should be limited to seeking factual information rather than eliciting the opinion or judgment of the applicant. For example, when the applicant answered “no” to a professional liability application question as to whether future claims were expected, based on the applicant’s opinion or judgment, the insurer concluded that the response was a misrepresentation or omission just because a claim did occur.

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In All Should Use Greater Care Handling Underwriting Information, insurance practices expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

The following are examples of alleged misrepresentations or omissions involving litigation:

* the broker asked the applicant to sign a blank application form, completed and released it to the insurer without providing copy to the applicant;

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In All Should Use Greater Care Handling Underwriting Information, insurance expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

State insurance laws generally allow the insurer to deny claims or rescind the policy for misrepresentation or omission, including concealment fact or incorrect statement, if:

* it was material either to the acceptance of the risk or to the hazard assumed by the insurer, or

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After being convicted of premeditated first degree murder, Jeremy Hull took his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court. It’s an automatic appeal and Hull did not waive his right to appeal. Hull, 26, was convicted in 2008 of killing Lewis Wilczek of Little Falls in April 2007, then dismembering, burning and burying Wilczek’s body outside of Foreston. After killing Wilczek, he stole the 21-year-old’s identity. The reason the defense is appealing the case has to do primarily with their belief that the Mille Lacs County District Court should have granted a Frye hearing in regards to expert witness testimony on fingerprinting and handwriting evidence.

A Frye hearing is used to determine whether scientific evidence (produced by an expert witness) is admissible in court. In the 1923 federal Court of Appeals case Frye v. United States, the court held that expert testimony is admissible when the technique or theory it is based on has gained “general acceptance” in the relevant scientific community. In a Frye hearing, the trial court determines whether or not given testimony is, in fact, generally accepted (a Frye hearing is typically called after prosecutors or defense lawyers move to exclude the testimony of an expert witness).

For more, see MilleLacsCountyTimes.com.

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In Tough Question Requires Equally Tough Answers, hospitality expert witness Steven Belmonte, President and C.E.O., Hospitality Solutions LLC, asks the questions: “Are product upgrades and renovations really needed during hard economic times?”

That’s a question I used to get asked a lot. But, as always, things change-and, obviously, not for the better, at least economically speaking these days. And so the question has changed. In these almost unprecedented hard economic times, the question isn’t so much whether a renovation is needed-rather, it’s whether a renovation is, first, viable and, second, whether it’s a smart thing to do.

This is a question you absolutely must ask yourself, especially in this incredibly tough financial environment. As for the answer … well, here’s what I think: There are two answers to this crucial question-and they both add up to an emphatic “Yes!”

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On his website, aviation expert witness John Ogle, MD, MPH, FACEP, lists FAA medical questions regarding a pilot applicant’s medical history and information on how the FAA considers any problems with respect to flight safety. Here are13-24:

Medical History 13. Mental disorders of any sort; depression, anxiety, etc. (More…)

14. Substance dependence; or failed a drug test ever; or substance abuse or use of illegal substance in the last 2 years (More…)

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