Expert Witness Blog

Property insurance expert witnesses may advise on issues involving insurance claims, insurance adjusters, property insurance, and related issues. In Chinese Drywall Claims Not Covered Under Homeowners Policies, plaintiff’s attorney William F. “Chip” Merlin, Jr., writes that State Farm, USAA, Allstate, and Hartford are among other insurers that refused to pay their customers for losses stemming from damages caused by defective Chinese drywall:

The Chinese Drywall coverage litigation involving first party property insurance policies has been discussed in the past. Are Chinese Drywall Problems Covered Under Property Insurance Policies? discussed the complex issues involved and warned that these losses may not be covered. FC&S Says Ensuing Loss Coverage Applies to Chinese Drywall Claims and Chinese Drywall Claims May Be Covered Under Homeowners Policy–Favorable Developments in Louisiana gave hope to the policyholders suffering form this unexpected property loss. Unfortunately, a recent opinion, In re: Chinese Manufactured Drywall: Products Liability Litigation, issued December 16, 2010, did not rule in favor of the first party policyholders.

Read more: propertyinsurancelaw.com.

In Experienced Claims Adjusters May Make Better Insurance Claims Experts Than Attorneys, William F. “Chip” Merlin, Jr., Esq. writes:

Practicing law and practicing adjustment are two different things. Some attorneys arrogantly think they know more about insurance because they understand insurance law. They often have no clue what they are talking about or understand what is going on in the insurance claims office. One significant part of understanding insurance and insurance claims handling for attorneys, whether policyholder or insurance company counsel, is to understand the training, management and day to day activities of adjusters. Thinking that an attorney is skilled in insurance because he can read, write and understand insurance cases and statutes is akin to thinking that an attorney can be skilled in surgery because he can read, write and understand medical malpractice cases.

This point was emphasized again in a blog by Ronald D. Kent, Lawyer Cannot Testify as Expert in Bad Faith Case Where Lawyer’s Background Is Not Relevant To Issues in Case, where he noted a bad faith case Butler v. First Acceptance Insurance Co., 652 F. Supp. 2d 1264 (N.D. Ga. 2009)…

In The Insurer’s Duty to Defend: A Quick Analysis, attorney and insurance expert witness Thomas H. Veitch describes some general rules applied by Texas courts and other jurisdictions following the “Eight Corners Analysis” regarding a duty to defend.

The insurer’s duty to defend is a contractual duty determined by the provisions of the insurance policy.

The eight-corners rule emanates from the fact that only two documents are considered relevant to the determination of the duty to defend, i.e., the policy and the pleadings.

In THE BUSINESS SECURITY TEST, nightclub security expert witness Robert A. Gardner, CPP, writes that “no business is totally immune from the threat of crime but a little prior planning and a few common sense precautions are all that is necessary to deter most criminals.”

Use this test to conduct a survey of your business. Each “NO” answer indicates a weakness that could help a criminal. As you eliminate the “NO” answers, you improve your level of protection and reduce your risk of becoming a victim. Go through the list carefully and systematically. You will also want to look at the business during the night and on weekends. Those are times when you may be most vulnerable.

Remember, this checklist points out your weak areas. You are not fully protected until each of them is corrected. Of course complying with these suggestions won’t guarantee that your business will never be the target of crime but it will improve odds in your favor.

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?

Answer: Since the reverse engineering process can be time-consuming and expensive, reverse engineers generally consider whether the financial risk of such an endeavor is preferable to purchasing or licensing the information from the original manufacturer, if possible.

In order to reverse engineer a product or component of a system, engineers and researchers generally follow the following four-stage process:

In New or Existing Building Turnover to Condo Ownership, architecture expert witness David E. Chase writes that no matter how many units are involved, a future condominium association should consider both the physical and financial status of any new or existing complex before Turnover to assume full ownership.

Finally, the Report should identify any deviation from the “permitted” plans and specifications with the appropriate documentation including dated photographic files and a code check template. Also if there are corrective items, a dollar figure for corrective action, item by item, must be required in order that the association and developer can discuss the realities of reaching consensus to achieve Turnover objectives.

Second, assuming that either a new condo project will have building component deficiencies or say a 15 year old rental apartment complex will most likely have some construction deterioration requiring repair and/or replacement due to past continued use, the developer must decide what to “fix”. Parking areas, landscaping areas, living units and common areas may need refreshing together with plumbing, air-conditioning and electrical system improvements and code updates.

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

While historically, individual accident investigation and reconstruction has been the venue of police agencies charged with enforcing the vehicle codes, traffic engineers can serve a vital role as expert witnesses in the determination of the causes of individual vehicle crashes. In doing so it is vital to have developed an understanding of such issues as Human Factors, Positive Guidance, Violation of Expectations, and Design/Construction and Maintenance in relation to the question of “Proximate Causes” of accidents.

Many traffic engineers attend Accident Investigation and Reconstruction classes along with police investigators, insurance company investigators, agency investigators, and practitioners and engineers of other disciplines to supplement their basic training in these arts. Such courses are offered by Northwestern University’s Traffic Institute, George Washington University, The Florida IPTM Institute of Police Traffic Management, as well as private offerings via professional institutes and organizations. These courses are offered many times to agencies on site and take three weeks for the basic reconstruction classes. Generally engineers are accepted by the courts as experts if they are licensed. Many police officers and engineers also are attending classes and taking the ACTAR (Accredited Commission for Traffic Accident Reconstruction) certification test in Accident Reconstruction. There is no mandated course or test in this field as yet. Many Professional organizations also offer in depth training, certification and field testing. Among these, most engineers are familiar with SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers), ITE (Institute of Transportation Engineers) and NAFE (National Academy of Forensic Engineers).

In The Role Of The Forensic Engineer, forensic engineering expert witness Philip J. O’Keefe, PE, MLE, writes:

Methods used in forensic engineering investigations, sometimes referred to as “root cause failure analysis,” can include reverse engineering, testing of exemplar components, review of documentary evidence, and examination of alleged failed components. Investigations are conducted in view of engineering principles, standard design practices, industry standards, and regulatory requirements.

In the course of a forensic investigation, it’s sometimes impossible to dissect components and devices without destroying any evidence that might be contained within. If destructive examination is unacceptable or impossible, non destructive techniques can be used effectively. Examples of non-destructive examination (NDE) techniques can include the use of a hand-held multimeter to check for electrical continuity or the use of x-ray equipment to reveal telltale signs of failure.