Expert Witness Blog

In The Need for Appraisals, appraisal expert witness Joel Forman of JLF Appraisal Services writes:

Starting in January 2011, the first wave of baby boomers will start retiring. For the next eighteen years, children born between 1946 and 1964 will be joining their older siblings and cousins to enjoy the golden years. Many individuals accumulated substantial estates. Some have impressive values. With both federal and state governments having dire cash flow problems, the need to have one’s affairs in order is more important than ever. JLF Appraisal Services is constantly amazed how many people don’t have wills, trusts or a DNR. When the courts are faced with an estate where the property owner died intestate, judges have been known to make arbitrary decisions that often go against the spoken wishes of the deceased. In addition, often there are constant family fights over the estate. This is especially true among the siblings, each person claiming the first right of refusal for all property.

As accredited appraisers, JLF Appraisal Services sees many estates that are ill-prepared for an orderly resolution. Most heirs have no idea what the estate properties are worth. More often than not, emotions overrule intellect. We highly that recommend individuals who are retired, or near retirement, work with their lawyers and tax consultants to ensure their wishes are followed. This is especially true when the will/trust specifies equitable distribution among the heirs, certain property donated to charity, and to trust funds for the future education of grandchildren and great grandchildren. The best way to get started, to ensure your wishes are followed, is to contact your attorney and financial advisor.

Insurance expert William S. Custer, Ph.D. writes on a black hole in health insurance:

Many of my fellow boomers have lost jobs during the recession. But the chances of our landing a new position with good benefits appear as steep as winning a lottery. And we tend to have more health conditions than younger people. "They are the most vulnerable of the uninsured,'' says the health insurance expert at at Georgia State University. This group has more health needs, he adds, and "if laid off, they have a harder time finding a similar job."

"The individual insurance market has never been very good,'' says Cheryl Matheis, an AARP senior vice president. "It has become increasingly discriminatory'' as insurers cherry-pick only the healthiest individuals, Matheis adds. Reform will greatly help people 50 and older, she says, by eliminating these insurance company practices.

Source walletpop.com.

The role of a medical expert witness needs to be strictly defined and carefully controlled during legal proceedings and physicians need to be aware of their role, states an analysis of the Goudge Inquiry into pediatric forensic pathology published http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090833.pdf in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca.

The Inquiry into Pediatric Forensic Pathology by Justice Stephen Goudge looked into the flawed expert testimony of Ontario pathologist Dr. Charles Smith which has been linked to several miscarriages of justice, including the wrongful conviction of Sherry Sherret-Robinson that was overturned by the Ontario Court of Appeal in December 2009.

Source: eurekalert.org

Attorneys for an anti-illegal immigration organization are challenging a Texas state law that allows illegal immigrant students to attend colleges and universities at in-state rates, saying it violates federal law. David A. Rogers, a lawyer for the Immigration Reform Coalition of Texas, an organization that opposes illegal immigration, said the lawsuit filed on Monday in Harris County District Court marks the first direct court challenge of the Texas law. Texas is one of 10 states in the nation that have laws offering in-state tuition to illegal immigrants who meet certain criteria, including graduating from a local high school and pledging to legalize their immigration status as soon as possible.

Education expert witness Michael A. Olivas, a University of Houston law professor who specializes in higher education and immigration issues, said that the lawsuit filed Monday was based on a flawed reading of federal statutes and the Texas residency law. “The state can, and did act properly, and the statute is constitutional,” said Olivas, who also served as an expert witness when a similar law was later challenged in Kansas.

For more, see chron.com.

National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including podiatry expert witnesses. In Medical malpractice liability reform—no easy task experts at National Medical Consultants write:

Joint and several liability
A third strategy that states frequently employ to reform their medical liability system is to modify another legal doctrine, joint and several liability, which is common to cases in which more than one person caused the harm. The joint and several liability doctrine permits holding a single defendant responsible for the entire damage versus being held responsible for the percentage of the damages that can be reasonably attributed to them.A number of states have modified this doctrine by separating joint liability from several liability, thus establishing a mechanism of proportionately assigning harm among the defendants.

Only 13 states still use the combined form of the joint and several liability doctrine for medical malpractice cases. Many states that have modified the doctrine will enforce joint and several liability, however, when the health care provider is found to have acted "in concert with others" or with "intentional malice" or when the health care provider's acts attributed to more than 50% of the harm. Additionally, states such as California and Ohio apply joint and several liability to only the economic portion of the damages and not to the noneconomic portion.

National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including brain injury expert witnesses. In Medical malpractice liability reform—no easy task experts at National Medical Consultants write:

Although they are popular in the medical malpractice reform arena, damage caps are not without their critics. Opponents of damage caps, including attorneys and patient rights and safety organizations, contend that damage caps penalize the most seriously Injured patients while reducing health care providers' accountability for negligent acts.

Modifying the collateral source rule. A second approach to medical liability reform that a number of states adopt is modifying the collateral source rule. Intact, the collateral source rule prohibits defendants from introducing information at trial or during negotiation for the purpose of off setting the damages awarded by asserting that the plaintiff may have received compensation from another source (e.g. worker's compensation, another Insurer).

Dr. Mark Dershwitz, an anesthesiologist and pharmacologist at the University Of Massachusetts Medical Center, was hired by the state of Ohio as an expert witness in litigation against the state regarding the death penalty. The state asked the anesthesiology expert witness to prepare a declaration that could be filed in court explaining that the single injection would work and would be painless and fast.

The state opted for a change after a failed attempt to execute Romell Broom with a three-drug cocktail. Although the country is watching closely, for now no other states have changed their method of lethal injection. Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia are among those who say they will continue using the three-drug method.

For more, see spotlight.vitals.com.

National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including nursing expert witnesses. In Medical malpractice liability reform—no easy task experts at National Medical Consultants write:

For example, Alaska, California, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Ohio, Texas, and West Virginia laws prohibit a patient from receiving more than $250,000 for noneconomic damages. One rationale behind noneconomic damage caps is that because such damages are extremely difficult to quantify, a jury often will inflate the award to the injured patient. In turn, such awards are believed to increase the costs associated with medical malpractice insurance (eg, increased medical insurance premiums that then create increased health care costs).

Other states, including Colorado, Indiana, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Virginia, have laws that apply in all injury-related cases, medical liability Included, that cap the monetary amount that an injured patient can receive for all damages, both economic (eg, lost wages) and noneconomic. Further, a number of states have adopted laws that restrict the amount of and the conditions under which monetary damages are awarded to punish the health care provider for a "wanton disregard of [patient] safety" (ie, punitive damages).

National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including neonatology expert witnesses. In Medical malpractice liability reform—no easy task experts at National Medical Consultants write:

CURRENT MEDICAL MALPRACTICE LAWS

This article explores some of the reform strategies that state governments have adopted, including the elements of the medical malpractice system the state legislatures intended to change. It also provides a brief discussion regarding the states in which medical malpractice reform initiatives are anticipated to continue during the 2006 state legislative session. Overall, this article explores the extreme complexity and political polarization that state legislators face in attempting to successfully achieve medical malpractice liability reform.

Damage caps. One of the common approaches to medical malpractice reform adopted by states is to implement damage caps. Damage caps limit the amount of money a patient can receive as compensation for injury(ies) suffered as a result of an alleged negligent medical act. Approximately 32 states have laws that cap specific types of compensatory damage awards in medical malpractice cases. (3) Many of these laws restrict the amount of money that a patient can receive for noneconomic damages or what is often referred to as "pain and suffering."

National Medical Consultants represents a panel of over 1900 distinguished specialists in all areas of medicine including vascular surgery expert witnesses. In Medical malpractice liability reform—no easy task experts at National Medical Consultants write:

Few people would disagree that the current state-specific medical liability systems throughout the United States are slated for significant changes to address what many have termed the "medical malpractice crisis." Although there seems to be consensus regarding the breadth of the so-called crisis and the need for successful reform, there is little agreement regarding which methods of change will result in the most effective strategy for medical malpractice reform. The fact that more than 400 legislative bills on this topic were filed in 48 states in 2005 is indicative of the diverse, and oftentimes contentious, solutions to reform.

The numerous solutions suggested by state legislators illustrate that medical malpractice reform is a multidimensional issue that cannot be resolved with one distinct strategy. Legislators must take a number of factors into consideration when proposing medical malpractice reform strategies, making the task both complex and controversial. Among the many elements that factor into the reform strategies are economics (eg, rising health care costs, increased medical malpractice insurance premiums, jury awards in malpractice lawsuits); patient rights (eg, access to quality health care, compensation for negligent medical acts); regulatory aspects (eg, of physicians, the insurance industry, attorneys); and the affect of the proposed law on existing laws both at the state and federal levels.

techdirt.com has this to say about Jenzabar & Google metatags:

Jenzabar Finds 'Expert Witness' Who Will Claim Google Relies On Metatags, Despite Google Saying It Does Not

CEO of software company Jenzabar, Ling Chai, has sued the makers of a documentary about the Tiananmen Square uprising. Now, the company has gone even further. It's found an "expert witness" who will claim that metatags do, in fact, influence Google results, even as the company itself insists they don't. The guy in question, Frank Farance, claims in his affidavit that "metatags are used by every Web search engine to determine search results and rankings." It's not clear how he has expertise in this particular realm or how he knows that Google uses metatags when pretty much everyone in the space has known for years it does not and Google itself has publicly denied using metatags to rank results.

Trucking and transportation rules and regulations expert witness John Johnson, a Michigan Technological University professor of mechanical engineering, testified last spring before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment as part of a review of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Vehicle Technologies research and development programs.

The expert witness stated that increasing truck efficiency has a major impact because trucks make up a significant portion of America's fuel use and will likely surpass passenger car fuel use within the next few decades. Research spending should reflect the significant role the trucking industry plays in the US economy. Manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks had sales of $16 billon in 2002, and overall, the trucking industry employs 1.4 million workers with an annual payroll of $47 billion. "Trucks account for about one-fourth of the transportation industry's total revenues," said Johnson.

For more, see mtu.edu.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised its guidelines for medical negligence expert witness testimony in cases involving pediatric expert witnesses. In its policy statement, the AAP provides a definition of expert witness testimony, and provides recommendations on how pediatricians should approach their role as experts. The full release can be found here: http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;109/5/974

Civil engineering experts at the American Society of Civil Engineers have written a free pamphlet entitles "So, You Live Behind a Levee!"

Most people know that levees are built near rivers and lakes to reduce flooding risk, but what does it mean to live behind one? Are your home and loved ones safe from floods? How much protection does the levee really provide? What do you need to know to be safe? ASCE's new public education booklet,

So, You Live Behind a Levee!

, was created to answer those questions and more, and to help individuals and communities better protect themselves against future flood threats. Written for both the engineering and non-engineering public, it covers issues such as flood size and risk, signs of trouble, ways to reduce risk, and how to prepare for and respond to emergencies.

* Download a free copy of "So, You Live Behind a Levee!" and find out how you can order multiple copies of the handy paperback guide at a discount. http://www.asce.org/

The reverse engineering expert witness focuses on discovering the technological principles of a device, object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation. Reverse engineering is a process of examination only: the software system under consideration is not modified (which would make it re-engineering).

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_engineering.

The California Department of Transportation Roadside Safety Research Group is responsible for evaluating the crash worthiness of roadside safety technology such as barriers, guardrails, crash cushions, bridge rails, sign supports and other hardware. The branch conducts full-scale crash tests on roadside safety hardware designs developed by Caltrans to assure that these designs comply with applicable crash performance criteria. It also evaluates the crash worthiness of proprietary hardware developed by others to assure that such hardware is acceptable for use on state highways. Finally, the branch provides support to Caltrans Legal in tort liability cases by conducting crash tests and providing technical assessments and expert witness testimony.

Crashworthiness experts at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration answer the questions "DO MOTORCYCLE HELMETS INTERFERE WITH THE VISION AND HEARING OF RIDERS? '

Motorcycle crash statistics show that helmets are about 29 percent effective in preventing crash fatalities. That is, on average, riders wearing a helmet have a 29 percent better chance of surviving a crash than riders without a helmet.The hearing test showed that there were no significant differences in the riders' ability to hear the auditory signals regardless of whether they were wearing a helmet or not. There was a difference, however, in the hearing threshold between travel speeds of 30 and 50mph. At the greater speed, all riders needed a louder auditory signal because of increased wind noise.

In Basic Characteristics And “Life” of Residential Mortgage Loans mortgages expert witness J. F. "Chip" Morrow writes:

The underwriter must also evaluate the character risk of the borrower. Statistics have shown that past satisfactory payment credit history indicates with high probability that the prospective borrower will make future payments including this new loan. The underwriter analyzes the prospective borrower’s credit history by obtaining a Residential Mortgage Credit Report (“Credit Report”). This Credit Report includes the prospective borrower’s credit histories for the last seven years. This includes credit histories for credit cards, automobile loans, student loans, other home loans, etc., as well as negative credit information including bankruptcies, notices of default, foreclosures and public records. As a requirement of the Credit Report, it must contain at least two of the three borrower’s FICO scores ─ Fair Isaac Score, Beacon Score and Empirica.

A FICO score is a numerical value that ranges between 300 and 850, with the low end of the scale representing a poorer credit risk. Loan entities then use the borrower’s FICO score to chart whether or not a prospective borrower is eligible to receive a mortgage. During the underwriting process, the underwriter must continually be aware of the “red flags” that indicate that the borrower may have problems repaying the loan, that the borrower may not qualify for the type of mortgage loan being sought or that there may be fraud. Freddie Mac has put out a guide called Fraud Prevention Best Practices that outlines these red flags for the various documentation provided by the borrower, the appraiser and the credit reporting agencies.

For example, among the 15 red flags for a mortgage loan application are significant or contradictory changes in debt from the initial to final application and a non-purchasing spouse.
For credit reports, among the 17 red flags are employment cannot be verified by a credit bureau, recent inquiries from other mortgage lenders and indebtedness discussed on the mortgage application varies from that reflected on the credit report.

The half-mile-long Champlain Bridge was abruptly closed as structurally unsafe Oct.16 when engineers learned the 80-year-old massive concrete piers were rotting away just below the waterline. Underwater diving inspections of the piers was done every five years but gave no advance hint at the rapid deterioration to come. Skip Carrier, a state Transportation Department spokesman, said that in the last four years, the amount of missing and rotted concrete in two of the 10-foot-thick piers went from 10 inches to 3 feet.

Civil engineering expert Norbert Delatte said a test may have been able to find the problem before it got so bad. The expert is a professional engineer and professor at Cleveland State University in Ohio and said the the "ultrasonic pulse test is not cheap, but it is a lot cheaper than what is going to have to happen now." An ultrasonic pulse acts like a kind of sonar. An electrical transmitter is placed against concrete and emits a sound wave, which travels through the concrete and bounces back to a receiver. An engineer can analyze the resulting signal to determine the condition of the concrete.

Delatte is an expert on bridge failure, and is the editor of the American Society of Civil Engineers Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice. He reviewed DOT diving inspection records for 2000, 2003 and 2005 provided by the Times Union.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com

In Successfully Locating A Business, zoning and land use expert witness John J. Wallace writes on a retailer's biggest challenge:

Finally, in considering a store location, think long and hard about your neighbors. These days a good "tenant mix" underlies the success of major malls, as well as some shopping centers. Again, complementary tenants create youth market and convenience-oriented side malls at Stanford Shopping Center. In one of the courts of Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza, a cluster of kid’s shops situated around a carousel ranks among the strongest children-oriented retail destinations in the country.

But some effective tenant mixes are not so obvious. For example, note the preponderance of shoe retailers in large malls anchored by department stores. Rather than cannibalizing each other’s business, these neighboring stores offer a variety that is appealing to comparison shoppers. Restaurant owners have learned the same lesson, and a collection of nearby eateries can coalesce into a successful "dining destination" (much like the food courts in many centers and malls).

By combining restaurants, multi-screen cinemas, bookstores and other complementary retailers, several centers have created distinct and impressive "night out" destinations. Only a few years ago, multi-screen cinemas located in single-purpose developments, usually surrounded by parking and nothing else. With the enormous success of mixing theaters with other forms of entertainment retailers, most new cinema construction in California now combines restaurants and complementary entertainment/lifestyle tenants.