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In Getting The Full Value Of Economic Experts In IP Litigation: A Qualified Expert Is Key, attorney Devon Zastrow Newman of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, P.C., writes:

A plaintiff’s claims in intellectual property litigation may take several forms, including assertion of claims of infringement of the IP right or loss of the plaintiff’s right to the IP through unlawful misappropriation (e.g., trade secret theft). To prevail, the plaintiff must establish three elements: the defendant’s breach of the IP right belonging to the plaintiff; the defendant’s breach damaged the plaintiff; and the measure of damages the plaintiff accrued as a direct cause of the defendant’s breach. An economic expert may be the key to establishing the third element.

When is an economic expert needed?

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In Cyberbullying, Trolling, and Cyberstalking: the Dark Side of Free Speech (part 1b), computer security expert witness Steve Burgess answers the question What is Free Speech?

Also not protected is harassment, the act of systematic and/or continued unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands. This could include discrimination based on race, gender, or sexual preference. It could include particularly aggressive bill collecting, or some forms of blackmail

Threatening to inflict great bodily harm (“I will stab you in the eyeball,” would qualify. “I will smack you in the kisser,” would not) or death would be illegal if the person has an apparent ability to carry out the action. Idle threats would not likely be found to be illegal.

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In Legal Ethics Considerations for Lawyers’ Use of Cloud Computing Services, Internet For Lawyer’s Mark Rosch writes:

We often get questions about the security of “cloud computing” services like Google Apps and whether that security is tight enough for lawyers to use them.

Google Apps, for example, meets the security standards put in place for the online storage of government agencies’ information set out in the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2000 (FISMA 44 U.S.C. § 3541, et seq.).

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Gasoline explosion expert witnesses may report and testify on fuel explosions, flammable materials, and tanker truck explosions. On March 26 in Huimanguillo, in the southeastern Mexican state of Tabasco, villagers tried to take gasoline from a tanker truck that had overturned late at night. Unfortunately, residents broke through a police perimeter and chased off firefighters in an attempt to take fuel. Eighteen people were killed in the explosion. Due to the flammability of the cargo, the possibility of survivors in the vicinity of a tanker truck accident is low.

http://www.cvtips.com/ writes:

Tanker trucks are powerful vehicles that haul liquid or semi-liquid cargo in long metal containers. Examples of liquid cargo can include fuel, food products and chemicals. The cargo can often be dangerous. The liquids can be flammable, corrosive, poisonous or even explosive. Handling such cargo requires extensive safety training. Driving trucks with a heavy liquid load also requires a different touch than hauling dry goods like lumber or furniture.

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Attorney Craig Ball is a forensic technology expert witness. On his website, Ball in Your Court, he writes on his experience as an expert witness.

Becoming a Better Digital Forensics Witness

Don’t Be Jekyll and Hyde We communicate as much non-verbally as verbally, and it’s fascinating to watch how a witness’ body language and demeanor transform from direct to cross-examination. On direct, witnesses are forthcoming and helpful–their engagement and desire to please manifested in their words and physiognomy. On cross, they lean back, glowering, arms crossed, shifting in their seats, quarrelsome and evasive.

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In Undue Influence in Making Bequests: A Forensic Psychiatrist Examines the Evidence, undue influence expert witness Stephen M. Raffle, M.D., writes:

One of the inferences for the exertion of “undue” influence is if a close or isolative relationship existed between the testator and the proponent of the changed will or trust at the time changes are entered into. When the beneficiary/caregiver isolates the testator from his/her other natural heirs, there is an index of suspicion to the psychiatrist for undue influence.

Another circumstantial fact may be a financial relationship between the “favored” beneficiary and the testator. For example, the favored beneficiary has check-writing authority and is otherwise being empowered to take over the financial affairs of the testator. Yet other example may be the receipt of a joint tenancy interest in real property even though the property was paid for entirely by the testator, or being employed by the testator’s business (or promoted if already an employee) up to and including being made an officer of the company.

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In Cyberbullying, Trolling, and Cyberstalking: the Dark Side of Free Speech (part 1a), computer security expert witness Steve Burgess answers the question What is Free Speech?

To listen to, read, or watch the news, it is clear that there is broad misunderstanding about the right to free speech. It is not the freedom to say anything to anyone anywhere, but rather a prohibition to keep the government from denying us the right to express ourselves. The Bill of Rights asserts that we have certain freedoms simply by dint of being born human beings.

We treasure our freedoms and freedom of expression or speech is one of the most sacred. Having this right allows us to speak truth to power and to satirize fools. In fact, one of the earliest forms of protected speech may have been the Celtic bards who worked for tribal kings, satirizing poor (or opposing) rulers, but immune from retribution under Brehon law many hundreds of years ago, or even thousands of years under European Celtic tradition.

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In Publicity and Credibility Through Writing, expert witness marketing consultant Rosalie Hamilton offers her thoughts on expert witnesses as authors:

When your expertise is publicized in articles and books, it does not look like advertising, it does not feel like advertising, but, delightfully, it works like advertising. Publicity is, in fact, the best promotional avenue after networking. Even better – it is usually free.

Appearing in publications as a writer confers credibility and authority upon the author. Your profession may even demand that you have peer-reviewed, published works. One tangible benefit from writing is that attorneys search the Internet for publications related to the subjects of their cases in order to find related, qualified expert witnesses. Being a published author can create additional publicity in the form of media interviews, book signings, and book reviews. While writing requires a tremendous effort, the benefits of being published definitely make the effort worthwhile.

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Immigration expert witnesses may consult on issues involving employment based immigration, green cards, immigration policy, and asylum.The Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA) presented Anthropologists as Expert Witnesses: Theory, Practice and Ethics at their annual meeting March 24-28. University of Cincinnati assistant professor of anthropology Leila Rodriguez has testified in immigration cases and writes:

I think the legal system’s understanding of culture is very different from how anthropologists define culture,” explains Rodriguez. The legal system often is looking for something with clear limits around it – the black-and-white answer – when most of our answers as anthropologists are gray.

Recorded sessions will be published at a rate of a couple a week, starting about two weeks after the annual meeting. Sign up to be notified via RSS or email.

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In Testamentary Capacity to Execute a Will and Mental Competency to Execute a Trust or Contract, forensic psychiatry expert witness Stephen M. Raffle, M.D., writes:

A Will is not a contract because it does not represent a promise to perform a service or execute an action for another person (including corporations). It is solely an allocation of a person’s wealth on death. A contract, such as a Trust, implies the potential for an adversarial relationship if one of the parties does not perform as promised. In a Trust the parties may be the Trustors and the Trustees. Therefore, an adversarial relationship potentially exists between the parties. Because of this potential adversarial relationship, each of the parties must be able to understand the consequences of their actions vis-à-vis being in default. This requires each party to be able to understand with meaning (mental competency) the terms and conditions of the contract which may themselves be complex and require multiple steps. For this reason the mental state required to enter into a contract requires an understanding of consequences and an ability to understand complex meanings contained within the contracted obligation, neither of which is explicit or implied in the execution of a Will.

Mental competence to enter into a contract has a higher threshold than mental competence to execute a Will. It is therefore possible for a person to retain testamentary capacity but not be competent to execute a Trust.

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