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In Mold Claims: Recognizing What Is Real and Dealing With the Current Excessive Fears and Claims, pollution expert witness Ronald E. Gots, MD, Ph.D.writes:

The recent mold frenzy is the strangest environmental claims issue that I have seen in thirty years of toxicological and environmental litigation consulting. Why? Mold is a natural living material and is essential for life. It has neither become more prevalent than it was twenty years ago; nor is there much additional support for any new adverse health effects despite thousands of active claims alleging the contrary. Most of the allegations in this arena are based upon substantial misinformation, so often repeated that they have garnered an aura of certitude. Among the misinformation: mold and mold toxins in the indoor environment are not known to cause brain damage,1 immunological disorders, bleeding lungs in newborns,2,3 fibromyalgia, attention deficit disorder, cancer or chronic fatigue syndrome. The alleged chronic disorder of “fungal syndrome”4 or “bioaerosal disease” are neither accepted in the medical community, nor known to exist.

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Lawyers must be sure that their expert witnesses testify in a way the jury understands clearly. It is often easy for legal counsel to understand testimony because he or she is familiar with it but they must remember that this is the first time jurors have heard it. For example, the equipment and machinery expert witness must be able to testify on the facts, concepts, and technical language in an understandable way on subjects that may include woodworking machinery (radial blades, bandsaws, debarkers, conveyors, lumber stackers, resaws, planers, etc.) and metalworking machinery (cutoff saws, lathes, grinders, sand blasters, punch presses, tipping machines, drills, etc.)

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Former Blue Lake, CA, police chief David Gundersen faces two dozen counts of raping his wife Darcie Seal with the use of an intoxicant, as well as charges of violating a court order, attempting to dissuade the victim of a crime, and illegally possessing a submachine gun and a pistol with a silencer attached. Gundersen’s wife feared the would kill her if she testified against him, a District Attorney’s Office investigator and a friend of Gundersen’s wife testified Thursday. Spousal abuse expert witness Diane Wetendorf testified that while domestic violence can take all shapes and forms, it is always about power and control. The TimesStandard reports:

Abusers, Wetendorf testified, often use isolation, emotional abuse, economic abuse and sexual abuse to exert constant control over their partners.

Because of these factors, as well as pressures from family and religion, Wetendorf said it is very common for it to take years for a victim to come forward. And when they eventually do, Wetendorf said, it is very common for them to later recant their statements.

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In Mediation as a Discovery Tool, insurance expert witness Guy O. Kornblum describes the benefits of going to mediation:

So, mediation can be very productive as a discovery tool and opportunity to learn more about your client’s case, and what the other side has to say IF the parties come in good faith, with a view towards getting the important facts on the table. But if one side is attending simply to demonstrate that it is playing hardball and merely wants the other side to capitulate for reasons that are not meritorious, then a mediation is not worth the time or money.

One issue that you face is how much you tell the other side. For example, what if you have significant negative information on the other party, or impeachment potential; do you share that? Maybe not. Maybe it has to be saved to avoid the adverse party being able to defuse this potential damaging evidence. Or, it might be that you can disclose the essence of this information in a private letter to the mediator, and can go over its substance and level of importance in your case in a private caucus. That is a judgment call that you as counsel need to make. If you follow this approach and hold it back or disclose it only to the mediator, the mediator might use it if he or she believes it may result in closure. Again, that is something you and the mediator need to discuss to put together a strategy.

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Palm Beach Florida and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection are seeking $17 million for a beach project to protect properties vulnerable to storm damage. The town says the beach was damaged by the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 but it is being challenged by petitioners seeking to block the town’s plans to rebuild the Reach 8 shoreline south of Phipps Ocean Park.

Dr. Robert Dean, retired University of Florida professor of civil and coastal engineering, says a full reconstruction is necessary at the Reach 8 shoreline. Dean, author of “Beach Nourishment: Theory and Practice,” warns that if the plan is not carried out, the beach is going to continue to erode and there won’t be any nesting sea turtles, property protection or recreation. Dean challenged the expertise of two geology expert witnesses expected to testify for the petitioners. Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a geologist at Duke University, and Dr. Robert Young, director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Western Carolina University, will testify that it is impossible to predict how renourished beaches will perform.

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Dr. Tartaglia of the Stork Climax Research Services testified as a metallurgy expert witness for the defense in a wrongful death suit involving materials testing. The plaintiff alleged that steel making byproduct and manufacturing slag fell from a passing truck and was the cause of death of his client killed in a car accident. The expert for the plaintiff performed an energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) elemental analysis on debris found in the car and asserted that the debris was from the truck.

Dr. Tartaglia consulted as an expert witness for the defense in the analysis of the disputed material. He advised that the EDS analysis was insufficient and that a molecular analysis should have been performed with an instrument such as a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer. The case was settled satisfactorily for the defense.

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The wife of Morton Scheinbaum has sued Las Vegas Mountain View Hospital over the death of her ex-husband. Linda Scheinbaum claims nearly an hour had passed from the time her husband arrived at Mountain View Hospital while a nurse insisted on getting his Social Security number, emergency contact and insurance information.The Scheinbaums were told to take a seat and wait – even though a delay of just minutes can make the difference between life and death during a heart attack.

Dr. John MacGregor, a cardiology expert witness from San Francisco General Hospital, would say later that Scheinbaum should have been rushed immediately into the emergency room for treatment. And emergency room bystanders would testify to their shock that the hospital staff failed to take his condition seriously.