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In OSHA Regulations and their Complexity construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Pick up the phone

Instead of beating your head against the wall endlessly searching OSHA or other agency websites, just pick up the phone and call them. You can even do so anonymously. This is one of the most expedient ways to make sure you get the right answers to your specific question. Too often people send off a sterile email that does not get a timely reply or the reply only provides you with more questions. To get the answers you need in a timely fashion, pick up the phone and talk to a real person; get a sense of their point of view, knowledge and conviction.

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In Tips for Using an Expert Witness Effectively, security expert witness Eric Coles writes:

In our culture we are urged to “trust the expert” – even in a court of law. The simple fact that the testimony of an expert witness is admissible in a trial shows how much we value the opinions of people who are considered authorities in their fields. This can have a very persuasive effect on a case, as long as the experts are carefully chosen and thoroughly prepared. Here are some tips for using an expert witness successfully. http://drericcole.blogspot.com/

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An insurance coverage expert witness testified in the Birmingham, AL, trial of Gabe Watson, charged with murder in the drowning death of his wife. Tina Thomas Watson died during their Australian honeymoon in 2003. The expert testified that Mrs. Watson could not increase her life insurance before her marriage which called into question the motive that her husband planned to benefit from her policy.

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Media expert witnesses may opine on media piracy, media formats, mass media, and related topics. In the news this week, the European court of justice has ruled that social network website Netlog is not required to install an an anti-piracy filtering system. The Belgian firm Sabam wanted Netlog and other social networks to monitor video and music posted by users in order to avoid copyright infringement.

Read more: curiaeuropa.eu.

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In Last week’s Apple-Samsung lawsuit involves eight patents, 17 products — bid for Nexus ban is based on only a subset, patents expert Florian Mueller writes:

On Saturday, I reported on Apple’s request for a U.S. preliminary injunction against the Samsung Galaxy Nexus (co-developed by Google) based on four patents. At the time, the main complaint was not publicly accessible, but I expected it to involve a broader set of allegations….

For the preliminary injunction bid, Apple focused on only one out of 17 products (all of them are listed further below), and on four out of eight patents.

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In OSHA Regulations and their Complexity construction site expert witness William Gulya, Jr., President & CEO, Middlesex Trenching Company, writes:

Staying competent with OSHA, EPA or other agency regulations can be difficult and sometimes exasperating. This can be particularly challenging when the people charged with their enforcement are sometimes a little fuzzy about their interpretation and application. Still, organizations and contractors are held responsible for understanding the rules and regulations under which they operate. So the complexity of agency regulations and the obscure manner in which they are sometimes published and enforced must also be clearly understood by experts.

Find the right path Having more than one person, such as a research assistant, look for answers or even figure out exactly what questions to ask can be a big help. I will often have two or three of my research assistants look into a tough question or the applicability of an ambiguous rule or regulation. We sometimes can’t see the forest for the trees. Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to industry colleagues to tap into their information and experience. This just may lead you down a path you had not previously considered.

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Securities expert witness Craig McCann, a former SEC economist, is founder of the Securities Litigation and Consulting Group in Fairfax, Va. He testified on behalf of Bobby L. Hayes who was awarded $1.38M from Banc of America Securities, now Merrill Lynch.

In the news this week, brokerage firms are trying to block his testimony as an expert.

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In Reasonable Scientific Certainty, document examination expert witness Dennis Ryan writes:

A recent report by the Criminal Justice Section of the American Bar Association (ABA) to their House of Delegates addresses the common term “Reasonable Scientific Certainty.” This term or a variant of the term has been seen frequently in many expert reports and has been called a requirement by many who use our expert reports. The ABA report recommends that this phrase be avoided because it has no scientific meaning.

The ABA report calls this term ambiguous and it appears to be used to measure the degree of confidence of the expert in his or her conclusions. This ambiguity can cause the expert’s conclusions to be misinterpreted by anyone that reads the expert report.

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US District Court, E.D. Wash. Judge Frederick L. Van Sickle has granted a request for a former Spokane Police Officer to interview a government expert witness. Karl F. Thompson Jr. was convicted of using excessive force and lying to cover up his actions in the death of Otto Zehm. Video forensics expert witness Grant Fredericks claims prosecutors left out information that would have helped Thompson.