by

Explosions expert witnesses may consult on flammable materials, fire & explosion analysis, and natural gas explosions, as well as related matters. Investigators have reported that the cause of an explosion last week in Stafford Township, NJ, was a crack in a gas line. Firefighters, paramedics, and New Jersey Gas employees were injured. The shock wave from the explosion flattened one home and damaged a score more.

Commonly used for heating, natural gas, methane, propane and butane make up the majority of residential gas explosions. After a 127 year old gas main exploded in East Harlem, NY, in 2014, Natural Gas Watch.org wrote that natural gas explosions seem to be occurring with disturbing regularity in the US.

There are more than 5,000 miles of natural gas pipeline beneath the streets, homes and buildings of New York City and according to public records, a significant portion of that underground pipeline is made of aging cast iron that’s prone to leak. Indeed, hundreds of miles of this pipeline are at least 100 years old and some of it even dates back to 1889.

Natural Gas Watch.org reported in 2014:

Continue reading

by

In A Review of BMC Software, Inc. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue: Should Intercompany Accounts Receivable Be Considered “Debt”? Samuel S. Nicholls of Willamette Management Associates writes:

In the matter of BMC Software, Inc. (“BMC”) v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court (the “Tax Court”) ruled on the definition of “debt” as it relates to intercompany indebtedness between a U.S. tax¬payer and its foreign subsidiary.

At issue in this decision was the BMC accounts receivable owed from its foreign subsidiary, BMC Software European Holding (BSEH). This accounts receivable was created as a result of a transfer pricing settlement between BMC and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) in 2007.

Continue reading

by

In Myocaritis in Children: A Diagnosis to Consider in the Pediatric Emergency Department, a board certified pediatric emergency medicine expert witness explains that myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart muscle, may result in significant heart malfunction or death. This is a condition that may result in misdiagnosis and is important for the pediatric emergency medicine physician to be familiar with and consider.

In children, the most common reason is due to a viral infection. Other causes include Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, toxic shock syndrome, fungus infections and or parasites.

Since myocarditis in children may mimic other conditions, the diagnosis of myocarditis is challenging. It is a rare condition, with common symptoms that the pediatric emergency medicine provider may encounter with other common conditions.

Continue reading

by

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

I love to testify-in court, at deposition, in declarations and affidavits-and I even like writing reports about my findings in forensic exams.

Continue reading

by

In Are We Nearing a Global Turning Point?, business expert witness Douglas E. Johnston writes:

Several important economic factors appear to be moving unfavorably for the US at the moment, both domestically and abroad, and there are increasing indications that America may not be able to orchestrate a hoped-for global resurgence on its own. Despite encouraging signs of domestic recovery, fundamental structural problems persist in the US economy. The National Debt now exceeds $18 Trillion, the Department of Agriculture confirms that well over 46 million Americans continue on food stamps, and key voices have stepped forward asking for a deeper look at several U.S. economic statistics.

Last week long-time Gallup CEO Jim Clinton very boldly drew attention to the government’s recent 5.6% unemployment numbers, questioning them as overly optimistic interpretations of data, and noting on CNBC that the percentage of Americans holding full-time jobs is now the lowest in 60 years. Former US Asst. Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts added more to the unemployment conversation recently when he calculated that the true US jobless rate may reach nearly 23% after adding back several categories of workers who have now given up looking for work. Several other media sources including CBS Radio have reported that as many as a record 92 million Americans may now be now functionally unemployed.

Continue reading

by

Since 1999, Internet For Lawyers has provided law firms, corporations, corporate legal departments and local and state Bar Associations around the country with professional and entertaining turn-key CLE programs teaching legal professionals to use the Internet more effectively for business, legal and investigative research.

Company principals, Carole Levitt and Mark Rosch will present the following in-person Continuing Legal Education seminars during February and March. They also offer online quizzes for California Self-Study Continuing Legal Education Credit.

February 26 Cybersleuth’s Guide to the Internet Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI)

Continue reading

by

Zoloft MDL presiding Judge Cynthia M. Rufe, E.D. Pa., granted the plaintiffs motion to present a new pharmaceutical expert witness. Hundreds of Zoloft birth defect lawsuits have been filed. The antidepressant manufactured by Pfizer is tied to an increased risk of defects like persistent pulmonary hypertension in infants. Other serious side effects include seizures, heart defects, autism, and malformations of the skull or brain.

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania website: About MDL 2342.

This Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL”) was created by Order of the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“MDL Panel”) on April 17, 2012. The typical case involves claims by a plaintiff from anywhere in the United States against defendant Pfizer, Inc., and may name other defendants as well.

Continue reading

by

In The Biggest Mistake Attorneys Make When Hiring a Medical Expert, medical malpractice expert witness Dr. Honor Schoech writes:

I was recently hired as a consulting medical expert by a new client. The attorney was representing an elderly woman who was suing a nursing home for negligence. She needed me to review the case quickly for an upcoming deadline.

Before I received the medical records from this attorney, she sent me a summary of the facts. It was thorough and concise, and the medical terminology used was quite advanced. My initial impression was that I was reading a summary from a physician who had already been consulted on the case. I assumed that I was being hired for a second opinion, and that perhaps the original physician was unable to support her views.

Continue reading

by

British Petroleum expert witnesses will testify before U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in an effort to lower the possible $13.7B fine as a result of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. BP hopes to prove the damage was not as devastating as originally projected. Dr. John W. Tunnell Jr., marine biology expert at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, will testify regarding the spill’s impact on fish, shellfish and birds in the Gulf of Mexico. The marine biology expert witness is Associate Director and Endowed Chair of Biodiversity and Conservation Science.

The Harte Research Institute website explains that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon blowout was unprecedented not only because of the volume of oil that leaked from the well but also the location wehre the oil was escaping was almost a mile beneath the Gulf’s surface, “creating problems with which responders had never before been confronted….”

During all previous spills the oil rose to the surface and drifted with the wind so modern oil spill response equipment and techniques have been designed to deal with that scenario. However, in the case of Deepwater Horizon, plumes of oil drifted with currents at various depths, settled to the bottom or dispersed throughout the water column making the use of skimmer ships, floating booms and controlled burns less effective.

Continue reading

by

An automotive engineering expert witness testified this week in the federal lawsuit two Minnesota families brought against Toyota. While the Koua Fong Lee and the Trice-Adams families argue that a defect with Lee’s Camry caused a deadly crash in 2006, Toyota says the accelerator pedal shows it was pushed down during the crash and that Lee mistook the brake for the accelerator.

Older model Toyotas were not included in the carmaker’s massive recall after sudden acceleration problems. Toyota was fined $1.2 billion in 2014 by the Justice Department after prosecutors said Toyota’s tried to conceal the problem of sudden acceleration in its vehicles. The case will go to the jury next week.

The National Transportation Safety Board is offering a new course for Legal Professionals, NTSB Investigations: What Legal Professionals Need to Know, to be held March 5-6, 2015, at the NTSB’s Training Center in Ashburn, Va.

Continue reading