Expert Witness Blog

Liability insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on commercial liability policies, professional liability insurance, and small business liability insurance. On the website Everything Small Business, find the article Small Business Liability Insurance – The 4 Types That You Need To Protect Your Business:

1. General liability insurance protects you against general liability claims as is described in the name. It protects against libel and slander, negligence that results in injuries, property damage caused by an worker, bodily injuries to customers, visitors, customers, workers, or anyone else coming onto your property (FYI, even “trespassers” on your property can sue for bodily injuries incurred on your property, even if they were not legally supposed to be there!) and can even cover infringement on intellectual property.

Purchase this kind of plan if your business needs protection against any of these types of claims (and if you are an astute business person, you will want to be protected every way possible.)

In Guaranteed Maximum Contracts construction expert witness Paul Gogulski explains the the G-Max contract:

The downside also needs stating. G-Max contracts require more work on the owner’s part to administer. The main effort involves defining what is cost. And if you are not interested in collecting discounts, obtaining credits for small tools, establishing realistic labor rates, monitoring rentals, and are not really prepared to act as a partner with your contractor in the project, then this program is not for you. Don’t try this if you don’t have a strong administrator experienced in general contracting. Contractors resent inexperienced owners questioning their decisions, and they certainly aren’t eager to have their books audited by anyone they don’t trust. Properly set-up and administered however, G-Max contracts are a win-win situation.”

Insurance fraud expert witnesses may testify on insurance claims, insurance regulations, and associated matters. On their website, the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud writes:

Fraud is Big

Insurance fraud is hard to measure because so much goes undetected, and complete research has yet to be done. Still, we have enough evidence to know that fraud is widespread – and expensive.

Marketing expert witness Don E. Smith, President, American Consulting Group, LLC, writes on THE LIMITATIONS OF USING SALES QUOTAS AS THE PRIMARY MEASURE OF PERFORMANCE

II. ADDITIONAL QUANTITIVE EVALUATION OPTIONS

A. Define and use quotas for each major product line plus a total for all products. Page 3, table 1, Historic Sales.

Commercial insurance expert witnesses may testify and write reports on commercial liability policies, professional liability insurance, agent errors and omissions, and associated matters. Here, the law firm of Kunz, Plitt, Hyland & Demlong writes on commercial insurance:

Commercial insurance is a broad term referring to the many types of insurance a business might acquire. Businesses, like individuals, may insure their property against fire, flood, liability claims of all kinds, and other damage. They may choose to protect specialized equipment and property, both real and personal. Commercial enterprises often need to purchase commercial auto insurance because even if the business does not own any vehicles, its employees’ individual auto policies may not cover them while on the job.

On his website, trucking safety expert witness Lew Grill, the SAGE Corporation, offers a Bridge Formula Weights Calculator:

The Bridge Formula Weights Calculator provides a convenient way to determine the maximum allowable weight that any set of axles on a motor vehicle may carry on the Interstate highway system.

Congress enacted the Bridge Formula in 1975 to limit the weight-to-length ratio of a vehicle crossing a bridge. This is accomplished either by spreading weight over additional axles or by increasing the distance between axles. Compliance with the Bridge Formula weight limits is determined by using the following formula:

Insurance claims expert witnesses may testify on insurance adjusters, insurance agencies, and insurance fraud. In their Publication and Resource Library, United Policyholders, a non-profit organization information resource for insurance consumers in all 50 states writes:

Welcome to our library where you’ll find useful guides, articles, samples and examples in plain language about topics related to insurance. Our publications are based on our organization’s many years of hands-on experience working with individual consumers. They include information from experts; insurance industry insiders, agents and brokers, attorneys, consumer advocates and public adjusters. Because UP is not-for-profit and not for sale, our tips are unique and valuable. We have no hidden agenda. By using the buttons on the left side of this page you can find buying tips, claim tips, links and other resources. Visit the “Shortcuts” section for help solving common problems.

Read more: http://uphelp.org/

Hours of service expert witnesses may write reports and testify on commercial motor vehicles, trucking safety, commercial motor vehicles, and correlated topics. In Chasing the Silver Bullet: Measuring Driver Fatigue Using Simple and Complex Tasks, the Northwestern University Transportation Center shares their research regarding Human Performance in Transportation Safety.

Established in 1954 by industry representatives, Northwestern University Transportation Center was the first university transportation center in the U.S. Since then, the Center has been recognized as a leading interdisciplinary education and research institution.

Read more: transportation.northwestern.edu

In The Case for Forensic Polygraph Testing in Post-Adjudication Sexual Offender Examination and Management, polygraph expert witness Ken Blackstone writes:

Scientifically based studies have concluded that the carefully administered, “forensic” or single-issue (one relevant issue) polygraph exam, conducted properly and optimally by a qualified examiner, is 89 to 92 percent accurate. It is the most accurate tool available today for determining truth or deception. When any reduction from the disciplined rigors of forensic polygraph examination occurs, the reliability of the results can and must be called into question.

However, in the post-adjudication sexual offender setting, a less rigorous “utility” approach is often taken and the accuracy of polygraph results diminishes for a number of reasons. The training, skills and discipline of the examiner are typically lower; the purpose of the examination may be far different and more exploratory; the questions are more generalized, ambiguous, and sometimes confusing. The accuracy of a 91% accurate exam is now 50-50.