Expert Witness Blog

Insurance expert witnesses may opine on insurance practices, insurance claims, and insurance coverage. Here, insurance experts from Anderson Kill Wood & Bender write:

Should I Stay or Should I Go?, Experts Offer Advice on Changing Carriers and/or Brokers
Every year as renewal day approaches, companies are faced with a difficult decision: do they renew with their incumbent insurance companies, or do they risk changing carriers to take advantage of lower rates, broader policy language or coverage add-ons? But the truth is, insurance carriers and brokers are helping businesses reach that decision every day of the year with their execution, their knowledge and their business practices.

With the soft market in insurance and the underlying economic unsteadiness of many carriers, there might never have been a time when so many companies are willing to question whether
it is time to change insurance carriers or brokers. Even decades-long relationships can be tested in times such as these. And what if the incumbent carrier is exiting the market or unwilling to renew for another reason? Policyholders must move cautiously and comprehensively to avoid a lapse or gap in coverage.

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

Mortgage loans expert witnesses may opine on variable rate mortgages, reverse mortgages, and conventional mortgages, as well as related topics. Here, loan expert Tammye Trevifio, Administrator, Housing and Community Facilities Programs, writes on:

Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program Funding Notice

Many of you may be aware of recent legislation in which Congress provided USDA with authority to resume operating the Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program (SFHGLP) at no cost to taxpayers. This was done through a combination of authority to: increase the upfront fee up to 3.5 percent of the principal obligation; charge a new annual fee of up to 0.5 percent of the outstanding principal balance; and waive payment of any fees for low and very low income borrowers up to a certain amount of loan guarantees.

Read more: mortgagenewsdaily.com.

Trucking industry expert witnesses may opine on trucking and transportation rules and regulations and federal motor vehicle safety standards, as well as related issues. Here, experts at Truckinginfo.com report:

The U.S. District Court upheld the legality of controversial parts of the Port of Los Angeles' Clean Truck Program yesterday, which could open up the port truck drivers to unionization. But observers say there will likely be an appeal.

Last year, District Judge Christina Snyder granted the American Trucking Associations a preliminary injunction against certain concessions, including a ban on owner-operators at the port. While the ATA does support the Clean Truck Program's environmental goals, the association argued that the concession plan imposes operational requirements that create a regulatory environment similar to state intrastate economic regulation and is thus against federal law.

After hearing arguments earlier this year, Snyder Thursday ruled that although federal law prohibits state and local entities from regulating the rates, routes and services of motor carriers engaged in interstate commerce, the Port of Los Angeles can mandate certain requirements on truckers under a "market participant" exception to that law. That exception is applicable, she ruled, because the port adopted the concession agreement in the Clean Truck Program "as a business necessity."

Read more: truckinginfo.com.

In When Do You Call an Expert for Cell Phone Data? Leonard Deutchman, Leonard Deutchman, general counsel and administrative partner of LDiscovery, discusses when to hire a telecommunications expert witness:

Cell phone service providers keep records of when telephones transmit to or receive signals from cell towers. Persons familiar with the nomenclature of those records can read them and, if they know a user's telephone number, determine whether the user's cell phone was being used within the vicinity of a cell tower on a certain day and at a certain time.

Such use of records is known as "cell phone tracking." It can be done through records downloaded from cell sites after the fact or in real time; indeed, America became acquainted with the phenomenon on June 17, 1994, during the famous "low speed chase" leading to the arrest of O.J. Simpson, where the suspect's whereabouts were ascertained in real time by following the cell sites which received signals from and transmitted them to a cell phone in a vehicle in which Simpson was traveling. Since then, it is not hyperbole to state that a week rarely passes without one of the CSI, NCIS, or other detective or police procedural television shows making reference to cell phone tracking.

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

In THE REAL ESTATE CLIENT: VALUATION SERVES IMPORTANT MASTERS
IN LITIGATION CASES, forensic accounting expert witness Richard M. Squar, CPA, CVA, ABV, CFF, MBA-Taxation, writes:

Before the business appraiser can focus on the specific value of the limited partnership interest, the value of the entire partnership based on the sum of the individual asset values less the partnership liabilities needs to be determined. The appraisal valuation date is critical, such date normally concurring with the date the transaction(s) regarding alleged effects upon the injured party occurred. The valuation date may be expanded to include the date of trial.

Some valuation concepts have evolved to the point of becoming standards of value. It is important that users of a valuation expert understand which standard of value the business valuation expert utilizes. Deciding the appropriate standard of value to use is where the expert often begins.

Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. For instance, biotechnology is applied to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for large scale production of drugs.

Green biotechnology deals with the use of environmentally-friendly solutions as an alternative to traditional agriculture, horticulture, and animal breeding processes. An example is the designing of transgenic plants that are modified for improved flavor, for increased resistance to pests and diseases, or for enhanced growth in adverse weather conditions. Biotechnology expert witnesses may opine on biofortification, metabolic manipulation, etc.

Read more: biologyonline.org.

Litigation funding expert witnesses may opine on litigation financial options and settlements. In Third Party Financing of Litigation, Paul H. Rubin, Department of Economics Emory University, writes:

The common law has long forbidden third party investment in lawsuits based on “champerty” and related doctrines. More recently, these restrictions have been relaxed, although they may not have been entirely eliminated in the U.S. While it might appear efficient to allow such investment, in fact it is not. The effect of relaxing restrictions will be to increase litigation.

When there are benefits of litigation these are deterrence of harmful activities. However, the U.S. already goes much farther than any other country in allowing class actions and other group based litigation, and so any benefits of increased litigation are likely to be small or nonexistent.

There are two external costs from increasing litigation. First, the plaintiff must pay his own fees, but it also imposes costs – sometimes quite significant costs – on defendants when a lawsuit is filed. In many cases, the costs imposed on defendants are greater than costs borne by plaintiffs, especially when plaintiffs are individuals or class members and defendants are business firms.

Second, the type of lawsuits that would likely result from increased third party investment would probably move the legal system away from efficiency. Overall increasing third party financing of litigation is likely to be harmful.

Read more: northwesternlaw.edu

Litigation finance expert witnesses may opine on litigation financial options and attorneys fees, among other topics. Litigation funding is a practice in which individuals who are plaintiffs in lawsuits receive money from firms and individuals who take a lien on the proceeds of a personal injury suit in return for ready cash. It is not considered a loan as the money does not have to be repaid if the plaintiff's law suit is unsuccessful. It is a nonrecourse debt. Funding companies also advance money to attorneys against anticipated legal fees earned in a personal injury matter.

In A Fee Limitation Rule for Litigation Finance, Michael B. Abramowicz of The George Washington University School of Law writes:

Interest rates on such loans are accordingly well in excess of typical market rates, but the
arrangements may be beneficial to plaintiffs who do not have enough cash on hand to finance a
lawsuit and who either cannot obtain funds through traditional loan sources or do not want to risk
the possibility of facing a large debt if the lawsuit fails. The social welfare case for litigation
finance is simple. Such financing enables liquidity-constrained plaintiffs to bring more cases and
to prosecute cases more effectively. Increased funding for litigation should thus reduce legal
error and help achieve the legal system’s goals, including both compensation and deterrence of
negligent or wrongful acts.

Read more: http://www.law.northwestern.edu/searlecenter/uploads/Abramowicz_Finance_Final.pdf

Pesticide products expert witnesses may opine on fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. On their website, the Chemical Producers & Distributors Association announces that an updated version of the Pesticide Registration Manual, also known as the "Blue Book," is now available on EPA's web site. The manual describes EPA's review and decision making process for registering a pesticide product and its use. Detailed information for pesticide registrants concerning their responsibilities before, during and after the review process is also included in the manual. EPA is hoping to make available in the near future an electronic version of the "Blue Book" in PDF format. The Agency intends to make subsequent updates to individual chapters of the manual as needed. The "Blue Book" may be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/registrationmanual/.

Pesticides expert witnesses may opine on pesticide contamination, insects, and pest control. In Keeping an Eye on Washington, July 2010, the Chemical Producers & Distributors Association writes:

In the June 15, 2010 Federal Register, EPA published a proposed rule to amend the pesticide container and containment regulations to provide a one-year extension of the labeling compliance date from August 16, 2010 to August 16, 2011. Under the proposal, pesticide products released for shipment by a registrant after August 16, 2011 would be required to bear a label that complies with the container requirements. The pesticide container and containment regulations, promulgated on August 16, 2006, include requirements for container design; procedures, standards, and label language to facilitate removal of pesticide residue prior to container disposal or recycling, and criteria for containment of stationary pesticide containers and procedures for container refilling operations.

A final rule published on October 29, 2008 amended the 2006 regulations to extend the original compliance date of August 16, 2009 to August 16, 2010. However, EPA has concluded there is insufficient time to change all labels by the revised August 16, 2010 compliance date due to several factors: 1) more antimicrobial product labels than expected require alternate rinsing instructions rather than the standard text as set forth in the regulations (such statements on the label must be made through the more time-consuming amendment process rather than through the more simplified notification mechanism); 2) EPA’s position on the appropriate container-related statements, particularly rinsing and treatment of rinsate, for certain pesticides has changed over time as a result of experience with product-by-product label reviews and this, EPA notes, has created confusion within the registrant community; and, 3) the length of time for states to review and approve labels is increasing due to staffing reductions and furloughs brought about by budget shortfalls.

Read more: cpda.com.

Reverse engineering expert witnesses may opine on failed components and reverse engineering. RE is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc.) apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually with the intention to construct a new device or program that does the same thing without actually copying anything from the original.

RE is frequently used on computer hardware and software. Software reverse engineering involves reversing a program's machine code (the string of 0s and 1s that are sent to the logic processor) back into the source code that it was written in, using program language statements.

Software reverse engineering is done to retrieve the source code of a program because the source code was lost, to study how the program performs certain operations, to improve the performance of a program, to fix a bug, to identify malicious content in a program such as a virus or to adapt a program written for use with one microprocessor for use with another.

Read more: searchcio.

Forensic engineering expert witnesses may opine on reverse engineering, failed components, and metal fatigue. Here, Wikipedia describes metal fatigue:

In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.

Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeated loading and unloading. If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic cracks will begin to form at the surface. Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, and the structure will suddenly fracture. The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp corners will lead to elevated local stresses where fatigue cracks can initiate. Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets are therefore important to increase the fatigue strength of the structure.

Bars and lounges expert witnesses may opine on bar security, lounge security, and night club security. Consumer's Guide to Nightclub Safety writes:

Do you know what the military does to ensure that teams achieve their aims? They establish rendezvous points. Pick a well defined area outside the nightclub to meet up with your friends. Then when there is an emergency, be sure to see them at your rendezvous point.

Do you know where the exits are? Before you enter a nightclub you should have an understanding of where the closest exit doors are. Are the exits distinctly marked and well lighted? If the exit paths are blocked, report the violation to management and leave the building if they do not listen to you. Then make sure to register a complaint with your local fire marshal.

Do you feel secure? Does the establishment look to be overcrowded? Do you see electric receptacles that seem like they have been incorrectly maintained? Are there safety systems implemented like sprinklers, security lights and smoke alarms? Does the venue participate in the Club Watch Community Connection patron protection and violence prevention initiative? Ask the nightclub management about your concerns. If you do not think you are safe in the building, don't stay inside the business.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/consumers-guide-to-nightclub-safety-832116.html#ixzz0wivXZkhm

Nightclub expert witnesses may opine on bar security, lounge security, and night club security. Consumer's Guide to Nightclub Safety writes:

Every day violent murders, stabbings and significant brawls occur at nightclubs throughout the nation. Can nightclub managers protect their customers from these dangerous incidents? The answer is dependent upon whether they are serious regarding their security and whether they have the correct tools and coaching, but consumers and patrons of nightclubs usually do not have any idea what security methodologies and technologies exist at a nightclub. So what should people do to ensure their own safety?

Critical questions you should ask yourself prior to you enter any nightclub:

Should you enter? For example, does the building seem to be in a condition that makes you feel comfortable going inside? When envisioning a calamity, do you think the primary entrance will allow for enough patrons to get away rapidly? Has the region immediately surrounding the nightclub been kept up? Do you have a communication plan? Be ready and have an individual you know available in the event you cannot find your companions.

Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/consumers-guide-to-nightclub-safety-832116.html#ixzz0wiu6tOho

There are many different types of materials analysis techniques under the broad heading of "spectroscopy", utilizing a wide variety of different approaches to probing material properties, such as absorbance, reflection, emission, scattering, thermal conductivity, and refractive index. Atomic absorption spectroscopy expert witnesses may opine on atomic absorption technology, as well as related issues. In Atomic Absorption: Feeding the Food Safety Market, Hazel Dickson writes on food safety:

The prominence of food safety in the global analytical community has revealed atomic absorption (AA) as a key player in the analysis of trace elements in foodstuffs. An established technique of several decades, AA is proving to be the technique of choice for those laboratories requiring dedicated analysis on a regular basis. Analytical laboratories inherently demand robust and reliable methodologies and instrumentation. AA offers an ideal solution, providing excellent sensitivity, accuracy, and precision. In addition, advances in automation, through online sample dilution and automated standard preparation, simplify routine tasks and offer increased productivity and sample throughput.

One of the fastest growing markets in food safety is China, mirrored by the continued growth of the Chinese Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The Food Safety Law, introduced in China in June 2009, which toughens penalties against manufacturers of mislabeled or tainted food, and has raised the profile of food safety in this region significantly. This has resulted in a noticeable increase in the trace elemental analysis of foodstuffs. China is the world's largest exporter of fruits and vegetables, with meat, fish, and cereals (such as rice) contributing significantly to the billion-dollar export market.

There are many different types of materials analysis techniques under the broad heading of "spectroscopy", utilizing a wide variety of different approaches to probing material properties, such as absorbance, reflection, emission, scattering, thermal conductivity, and refractive index. Spectroscopic analysis expert witnesses may opine on infrared spectroscopy and absorption spectroscopy, as well as related issues. In Atomic Absorption: Feeding the Food Safety Market, Hazel Dickson writes on food safety and the media:

Recent years have seen a change in the availability of research and information relating to food and public health. Such research is no longer only visible to scientific researchers through academic literature but is becoming more and more visible to the general public through news websites, magazine articles, and online blogs and social networking sites — for example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration now announces product recalls though the real-time information network Twitter. In addition, the past several months have seen a wealth of articles appearing in the general public news relating specifically to trace elements in foodstuffs, including antimony and arsenic in fruit juice, lead in cocoa products, and tin in canned foods. With an ever-increasing public and consumer awareness, the demands placed on food analysis and testing laboratories has reached an all-time high.

There are many different types of materials analysis techniques under the broad heading of "spectroscopy", utilizing a wide variety of different approaches to probing material properties, such as absorbance, reflection, emission, scattering, thermal conductivity, and refractive index. Spectroscopy expert witnesses may opine on spectroscopic analysis and absorption spectroscopy, as well as related issues. In Atomic Absorption: Feeding the Food Safety Market, Hazel Dickson writes on metallic elements in food:

Some metallic elements are essential to the health and well being of the human body as they play an important role in basic functions. Examples of these include phosphorus, which is needed for muscle and tissue growth, and calcium, which is critical for normal cell operation. Minute amounts of zinc and manganese are required for hormone production and enzyme function. The absence or excess of these elements in the diet would result in the body not functioning in a normal and healthy way. Other elements such as arsenic, mercury, and lead are toxic and offer no physiological benefit. Entry of these elements into the body is usually via ingestion of food that has been contaminated due to pollution of the environment where the food is produced. Food and beverage suppliers and manufacturers, therefore, have a responsibility to know what is in the food they are supplying to consumers.

Read more: http://spectroscopyonline.findanalytichem.com/spectroscopy.

Interstate motor carrier operations expert witnesses may opine on federal motor carrier safety regulations and the Department of Transportation (DOT), as well as other issues. Trucking experts at the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) recently issued a press release, coming out in support of the newly proposed Motor Carrier Protection Act of 2010.

Why would this legislation be a good thing for truckers? Todd Spencer, Executive Vice President of OOIDA, thinks tightening regulation and closing loopholes is necessary. "If passed, this law would put a stop to a system that allows rogue brokers and scam artist to operate unchecked," he said. "Too often, we've seen bad brokers get away with collecting payment from shippers but leaving truckers holding the bag." The OOIDA has, for many decades, represented the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. They are the nation's largest such trade association, with over 155,000 members.

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

Streaming media expert witnesses may opine on digital multimedia evidence and streaming video, as well as related topics. The Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Video Association (LEVA) issued their Best Practices for the Acquisition of Digital Multimedia Evidence Version 3.0 on April 14, 2010, including information on preservation of DME.

DME preservation should consider the following:

Gaining Physical Access
If the data is stored on-site, coordinate with personnel at the storage location to gain access to secured areas, locked containers, or storage devices.
Access to remotely stored evidence may be acquired over network cables, phone cables, or through wireless connectivity. It may be necessary to contact other personnel who can access the DME and make arrangements to preserve the data.

Gaining Logical Access
Usernames and passwords may be required to gain logical access to the data on the system. Local network information, such as IP addresses, may also be required.

Controlling Access
Controlling access to the system can be accomplished by limiting physical access to the recording/storage device and by isolating the recording/storage device from external sources. External sources of access include network cables, phone cables, and wireless communication devices.

Preventing Loss
Steps should be taken to ensure no overwriting of the relevant data occurs until the data has been transferred to the acquisition media. Attention should be given to pre-scheduled data-purge and/or over-write settings. It may be necessary to solicit the assistance of additional resources including, but not limited to, manufacturer support personnel, network administrators, or a qualified computer forensic examiner. A sudden loss of power could cause destruction of the evidence. Terminating the power source should be considered a last resort.

Read more: leva.org.

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In Ask the Expert: How the Securities Foreclosure Mess Happened, mortgage loans expert witness Maher E. Soliman writes on the Conditional Prepayment Rate:

The CPR is the measurement of prepayment speed determine from reversion (sale of a home) refinance or the opposite end of the spectrum which is delinquency and default. Mortgages originated over the last decade were attributed an estimated holding time or CPR of say 60 months. Other things that influence price and for understanding the lenders desire to become fixated with the sub prime mortgage sector are subject to ethical scrutiny. I am referring to extreme maximum leverage used to buy loans and the introduction of something called accounting practices such as derecognition. The latter is suspect, according to many accountants, as it offer no real value to a transfer and subject to entering a “gain on sale.”

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