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Marketing expert witnesses may opine on marketing effectiveness, marketing research, marketing strategy, and more. At Expert Communications.com, Rosalie Hamilton provides methods for experts to find prospect attorneys, companies and insurers that need their expert consultant services. Here, an expert witness contributes to ExpertCommunications.blogspot.com:

I never, never offer an opinion of a case based on information given to me by the attorney. On the initial call, when asked my charges, and if I think I can help them, I simply reply that I cannot determine the cost until I have seen the documentation, and that I do not know what my final opinion will be until I have reviewed all documents and have performed my analysis. I do tell them I’ve done this for many years and I work quickly. By seeing my Rule 26, they can view the types of cases I have testified, and who the hiring attorney was. That lends to credibility.

Read more: expertcommunications.blogspot.com.

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Insurance adjusters expert witnesses may testify on insurance claims, insurance agencies, insurance fraud, and associated topics. In Adjusters’ Pet Peeves, Charles Hunter Mcree writes:

1. Cheapskate insurance buyers. Some policyholders make insurance-buying decisions based on “the cheapest quote,” and then feign surprise when they don’t get platinum claim service. Usually things are cheaper for a reason. If you check into a Motel 6 and pay a bargain basement price, then please do not whine because the hotel lacks concierge service and a mint on the pillow. When shopping for insurance, many accounts are “all about price.” When they have a claim, it is all about service. Sorry, but those two usually go hand-in-hand-in both claims adjusting and in other realms.

Read more: propertycasualty360.com.

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In Study sheds light on EU outbreak’s E coli family tree, Lisa Schnirring, Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy writes:

German researchers who were the first to release the initial genome sequence of the Escherichia coli O104:H4 outbreak strain published their in-depth findings yesterday, which found that it differed from a 2001 strain found in Germany, but that both could have evolved from a common progenitor. Infectious disease expert Dr Dag Harmsen, that the group’s work represents the first use of a next-generation sequencing platform.

Read more: www.cidrap.umn.edu.

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Insect pathology expert witnesses may write reports and provide testimony on pest control standard of care, insect pathology, pest control, and related topics. The National Resources Institute explains that insect pathology is the study of disease in insects.

The rationale behind the investigation of diseases that attack insect pests is that the causative organisms can be used as “natural insecticides” for controlling these pests without resorting to the use of toxic chemical insecticides. They are natural, specific and completely safe to man, domestic animals and crops. They are also harmless to other non-target insects such as bees, predators, parasitoids and other beneficial species. These pathogens can be mass produced using simple techniques that are appropriate for developing countries, thus enabling these countries to develop their own low-cost alternatives to expensive, imported and often environmentally-damaging chemical pesticides.

Read more: nri.org.

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Marketing expert witnesses may opine on marketing effectiveness, marketing research, marketing strategy, and more. At Expert Communications.com, Rosalie Hamilton provides methods for experts to find prospect attorneys, companies and insurers that need their expert consultant services. Here, an expert witness contributes to ExpertCommunications.blogspot.com:

My retainer agreement not only lists the fees and scope of my work, but I also have a clause (in bold) that expressly forbids the attorney from disclosing me as an expert witness if the attorney has not retained me. This happened many times in my early career, and that is why I put it into my retainer agreement. The clause also states I will take action against the attorney if I am listed without being retained. This clause has stopped attorneys from listing me as expert without retaining me. In addition, I have proof that I sent them the retainer agreement, thus I know my clause has been read. [editor’s note: see other experts’ experiences on being designated without permission in this past discussion.]

Read more: http://expertcommunications.blogspot.com/.

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Tree care expert witnesses may opine on certified arborists, diagnosis and treatment of tree diseases, forestry, and related topics. In Chipping Away at Chipper Safety, Rick Howland writes:

The tree care industry can be a dangerous one, but is becoming less so as the days go on, thanks to two things that can work independently or in concert with one another: Safer equipment and better operator training.

The chipper is a perfect example. You might think you recognize all the improvements that have been made in chipper technology over the years, but you are likely to be wrong. Sure, you can click off the major steps in safety and training, but there is some very subtle, very effective engineering that’s working on your behalf, thanks in large part to a savvy manufacturing group that wants you and your employees to be efficient in your job and safe enough to, yes – go home to your family each night, but also to come back and buy more, bigger and better machines.

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Arborist expert witnesses may testify on tree pruning, arboriculture, and tree removal safety, among other topics. In Who is Responsible for Safety?, Carl Potter of the Tree Care Industry Association writes on how accidents happen:

You know safety procedures require you to wear eye protection but it’s all the way back at the truck, so you’ll go ahead without them – just this once. You make the decision to do this job without the proper equipment and start sawing. Debris flies up and hits you in the face and now you have something in your eye. You go back to the truck and look in the mirror, trying to clean your eye. You’re thinking the whole time that you should have worn your glasses, because you are in trouble. Now you have to go to the doctor and will have an OSHA recordable. Your boss is going to be mad.

Read more: treecareindustry.org.

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Risk assessment expert witnesses may provide reports regarding value at risk, risk management plans, and the risk management process. In Newly released ISO/IEC 27005:2011 helps improve risk management, DISC InfoSec blog writes:

Newly released ISO/IEC 27005:2011 helps improve risk management ISO 27005:2011, the newly released international information security risk management standard, is now available to the international community of business continuity and information security practitioners.

Information security risk management is one of the core competencies of information security. This Standard is an essential companion to ISO/IEC 27001 and ISO/IEC 27002 and replaces ISO/IEC 27005:2008.

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Silicone breast implant expert witnesses may write reports and testify on silicone products, silicone gel-filled implants, and silicone-rubber materials. HoustonPressBlogs reports that Houston-based pharmaceutical injury lawyer Ed Blizzard was a chief negotiator in a 1990s case against Dow Corning and helped to win a $3.2 billion settlement in the silicone breast implant case. In 1991 Dow lost the lawsuit filed by Mariann Hopkins who claimed her implants had ruptured and damaged her immune system. Thomas Talcott, a former Dow Corning engineer, to testified as an expert witness on her behalf.

Blizzard is now representing about 50 people against Johnson & Johnson over what Dr. Thomas Joyce, a biomedical engineering professor at Newcastle University (UK), recently called “the biggest disaster in the history of orthopedics.” In 2010, The New York Times exposed Johnson & Johnson subsidiary DePuy Orthopedics for surgically implanting faulty artificial hips that were designed to last 15 years or more, but instead failed after just a few years. “What has happened is the friction of metal on metal has caused a shedding of metal debris that causes bone erosion and tissue death,” says Blizzard.

Read more: blogshoustonpress.com.