Expert Witness Blog

Utilities expert witness John P. Nelson writes “There are many hazards associated with the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.”

The following is a list of a few of those hazards:

• Contact with energized parts • Electrical arc flashes • Auto accidents involving power poles • Drowning in water associated with hydroelectric plants.

In BUYING A FRANCHISE VERSUS STARTING AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS, attorney and franchise disputes expert witness Kevin B. Murphy writes:

A CHANCE TO GET RICH, BUT ALSO A CHANGE TO GET STUNG Just as franchising represents a chance to get rich, it’s also a chance to get stung. Everyone knows the big blue-chip names like McDonalds, KFC, Radio Shack, etc. But they’re the exception and not the rule. Many lawyers owner wannabes sign on with far smaller, lesser-known or unknown names that may not have a clue about helping operators make money.

Regrettably too many over-eager, first-time buyers leap into buying a franchise without using a franchise attorney who understands the in’s and out’s of relationships, the viability of the industry or company under consideration, and the long-term legal consequences of the contract they are signing.

Media piracy expert witnesses may opine on film, content theft, royalties, motion picture distribution, copyright for movies, and more. In Types of Content Theft, the Motion Picture Association of America writes:

PEER-TO-PEER (P2P) THEFT A peer-to-peer (P2P) network is a system that enables Internet users through the exchange of digital files among individual computers or “peers” to (1) make files (including movies and music) stored on their computer available for copying by other users; (2) search for files stored on other users’ computers; and (3) transfer exact copies of files from one computer to another. P2P technology itself is not illegal and may be useful for many legal purposes, but people often use the technology to illegally exchange copyrighted material on the Internet. While people may believe their files are being exchanged among only a few “friends,” these files can be accessed by millions of people around the world who are part of the same P2P network.

If you download movies using illegal peer-to-peer sites, you are often also distributing illegal content, as the default setting of most P2P networks ensures that individuals downloading files from the network are simultaneously uploading files and thus distributing illegal copies of works to other peers in the group, who in turn distribute the files to yet others.

The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, a joint project of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, University of San Francisco, University of Maine, George Washington School of Law, and Santa Clara University School of Law clinics, answers the question, What stages are involved in the reverse engineering process?

The second stage, disassembly or decompilation of the original product, is the most time-consuming aspect of the project. In this stage, reverse engineers attempt to construct a characterization of the system by accumulating all of the technical data and instructions of how the product works.

In the third stage of reverse engineering, reverse engineers try to verify that the data generated by disassembly or decompilation is an accurate reconstruction the original system. Engineers verify the accuracy and validity of their designs by testing the system, creating prototypes, and experimenting with the results.

In BUYING A FRANCHISE VERSUS STARTING AN INDEPENDENT BUSINESS, attorney and franchising expert witness Kevin B. Murphy writes:

As a franchise attorney who has owned and operated a successful franchise, I can say buying a franchise represents a different approach to starting a business. Millions of people dream about owning their own business. Having the independence that being your own boss brings, the security that no one can fire you, hopefully enjoying a good income – and for the most successful – the accumulation of wealth and prosperity.

Unfortunately, the cards are stacked against a new small business making it big – or making it at all. An endless stream of problems makes competition from large, sophisticated chains just too intense. Most new start-ups end as failures.

Movies expert witnesses may opine on film, royalties, motion picture distribution, copyright for movies, and more. In Types of Content Theft, the Motion Picture Association of America writes:

CAMCORDER THEFT Approximately ninety percent of newly released movies that are pirated can be traced to thieves who use a digital recording device in a movie theater to literally steal the image and/or sound off the screen. Camcorder theft is one of the biggest problems facing the film industry. All it takes is one camcorder copy to trigger the mass reproduction and distribution of millions of illegal Internet downloads and bootlegs in global street markets just hours after a film’s release and well before it becomes available for legal rental or purchase from legitimate suppliers. Studios and theater owners have significantly increased security and surveillance in theaters all over the world to thwart would-be camcorders. Since 2003, the major motion picture studios have employed technology such as watermarking films, which enables film companies to discern the source of a stolen film through forensic analysis and trace it back to the very theater in which it was recorded.

Read more: mpaa.org.

In Preparing and Presenting Expert Testimony, traffic engineer and accident reconstruction expert witness Lawrence Levine writes:

How then can a Traffic Engineer best assist an attorney in either developing the basis for a suit to be filed by a plaintiff attorney or defending a case, which would be the province of government agency attorneys or outside defense counsel. Note that although the two groups of lawyers often overlap by handling both defense and plaintiff work, lawyers generally focus on one or the other. As such, each attorney has a different bias and therefore a different agenda.

Attorneys are ‘advocates.’ They are supposed to take sides, no matter how they might feel personally, to provide their client with the best representation. This is not the case for the Traffic Engineer who the lawyer chooses to use either as a fact witness or as his expert witness. The Traffic Engineer in either case is expected to be totally objective, have no bias, and state opinions they have developed “within a reasonable degree of engineering certainty.” Plaintiff lawyers are paid on a contingency, if they win. Experts are paid regardless.

Auto insurance claims expert witnesses may opine on policies, auto repairs, and injury claims. In How to Read an Auto Policy, Auto Insurance Claim Advice writes:

Your auto insurance policy is not one packet of information. It is made up of different separate sections (often times, different and separate documents). An insurance policy is composed of the following:

* Insurance Declarations Page;