Expert Witness Blog

Property management expert witness Ann E. Reisch, CPM, CCIM, RPA is Principal of Reisch Consulting Group, Inc. in Central Florida. Also a member of the Industry Standards Advisory Board for the Institute of Real Estate Management, here she writes on resident screening during the leasing process.

Nothing is more devastating to a landlord than to learn that someone was seriously injured or killed on their property. What makes it tragic is to learn that the person responsible was one of their tenants. One of the biggest mistakes a landlord can make is to improperly screen prospective residents during the leasing process. While credit checks, employment verification and reference checking is often done, the most frequent omission landlords make is the failure to check a person’s criminal history.

The safety of residents is paramount. Protecting the property itself is also essential. By obtaining a person’s criminal history before they move in, individuals with prior convictions for violent crimes, sexual assault or other egregious offenses can be identified and rejected for occupancy. When considering that the cost of obtaining this information is typically paid for by the applicant, there is no justifiable reason to skip this important step when leasing property.

Trademark expert witness William D. Neal is Senior Executive Officer at SDR Consulting and in Modeling Brand Equity, he writes on branding:

The measurement and management of brand equity has become a major issue for marketers and marketing researchers over the last several years. The concept of brand equity goes well beyond the legal concept of a trademark or the accounting concept of goodwill. Brand equity encompasses a gestalt of intrinsic values, or equities, that adds to the tangible, measurable benefits delivered by a particular product or service. These intrinsic equities may include such things as the image imparted to the purchaser, advertising quality, advertising quantity, trust, long term reputation for reliability, customer support, social responsibility, and so forth.

As an example, two unbranded home breadmakers may deliver the exact same set of features in terms of capacity, warranty, ease of use, display, color alternatives, and price. As long as these two breadmakers remain unbranded, they will be undifferentiated and therefore equivalent to the purchaser. But, if we label one of those breadmakers, say, an Acme and the other Braun, most purchasers will attribute additional, intrinsic, value to the Braun product. The two branded breadmakers are no longer undifferentiated and, to most consumers, the Braun breadmaker has more value. Most purchasers associate the Braun brand name with the intrinsic values of quality, durability, reliability, trust, and an image with which they want to be associated.

the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco is deciding whether millions of women who work at Wal-Mart or are former employees can join a class action sex-discrimination lawsuit against the chain. Plaintiff’s attorney Brad Seligman says that discrimination was “a system-wide process” at Wal-Mart’s 3,400 stores and that their sexual discrimination expert witness found that “in every one of 41 regions, women got paid less than men” by an average of a couple of thousand dollars a year. As a class action it would be the largest civil rights suit in US history. Seligman wants to see all the women compensated and the company change its practices.

Excerpted from SFGate.com.

The Coalition for Affordable Health Care was in Pittsfield, MA, Friday to talk to the public and business owners about their coverage. Health New England President & CEO Peter Straley told them that a lot needs to change and the best way to get coverage costs under control is to take better care of ourselves. Our health should also include more conservative care. Too often, Straley says, doctors order more tests than are needed. “MRIs, CTs…these are exceptionally expensive, exceptionally important diagnostic tools, but we use them too much,” said Straley.

One local insurance expert says another way to rein in health care costs is to shop around. “As frustrated as employers are, they are having more options and they are taking advantage of the marketplace forces,” said True North Financial Services insurance broker Holly Taylor.

Pulmonary medicine expert witness Kathleen S. Adams, RCP, RRT-NPS, is an instructor and owner of Packmule Education & Consulting Services in Southern California. Also the president-elect of the California Society for Respiratory Care, here she writes on difficult airways.

Difficulty or inability to perform adequate bag-mask ventilation can be predictable in some patients, such as those with obvious facial trauma or beards that may interfere with obtaining an adequate seal. There are more subtle challenges-such as obstruction by the tongue, either by falling back or by swelling; airway edema or spasm; or blockage due to foreign body.

Difficult tracheal intubation can be related to the inability to visualize the glottic opening or those procedures requiring multiple and/or unsuccessful attempts to place the endotracheal tube. Reasons for these are many, including, but not limited to, upper airway edema, trauma, airway anomalies, obesity, limited neck mobility, or limited opening of the mouth. This could also be related to a lack of skill or use of improper technique by the practitioner. Without proper training in the endotracheal intubation procedure and/or proper use of a selected device, the practitioner can actually turn what could be a normal intubation procedure into a difficult one and increase the risk of complications to the patient as a result. To avoid this situation, practitioners expected to perform such tasks should first receive good basic training in the endotracheal procedure. They should then receive special training necessary for intubation pertinent to their patient population, followed by training for a specific device or technique in addition to standard laryngoscopy. No technique or device can replace good airway management training.