Expert Witness Blog

Engineering expert witness Philip J. O’Keefe, PE, writes that pressurized vessels can pose a danger for various reasons.

Perhaps the most obvious source of danger posed by a pressurized vessel is when its contents rapidly and violently discharge. This scenario presents the same hazards mentioned above, coupled with dangers associated with flying objects and shock waves. For example, if a pressure vessel is not securely held in place and it fails, the rapid release of its contents could literally turn it into a missile careening out of control.

I happened to be in close proximity to one of these “unintentional flying objects” one day. The valve broke off an unsecured pressurized gas cylinder of the type that welders use. Its gas escaped with sufficient force to cause the cylinder to fly across a concrete floor and crash through a cinderblock wall. The violent and rapid release of a pressure vessel’s contents also has the potential to create shock waves strong enough to move heavy objects and people, capable of catapulting them through the air.

In Dram Shop Laws – Improving Public Safety, dram shop expert witness Maj. Mark Willingham of Alcohol Solutions, LLC, writes:

Standards for dram shop lawsuits vary widely among states. Those standards include prohibitions of service to intoxicated, visibly intoxicated or obviously intoxicated patrons or when it should have been known that the patron was intoxicated. One state prohibits service to a drunken person in a criminally negligent manner. Another allows a civil action when the service was to a person clearly intoxicated. Several states require proof that the alcohol service was done in a reckless manner or that the alcohol was provided with reckless disregard to the rights of others. Other states require proof that the patron was intoxicated to the extent he or she presented a clear and present danger to self or other. Florida allows a dram shop action only when the alcohol service was to someone habitually addicted to alcohol. This standard is particularly difficult because alcoholics do not carry or present identification cards identifying them as such and rarely make self-admissions to bartenders.

Risk management expert witnesses may provide reports regarding value at risk, risk management plans, the risk management process, and more. The Professional Risk Manager’s Association explains that best practice governance and risk management do not attempt to eliminate risk.

Rather, they are designed to help organizations maximize the risk‐adjusted return on capital whilst, at the same time, transforming uncertainty ‐ which is unmanageable and unmeasurable ‐ into risk, which can be identified, assessed and may be measurable.

Decision‐making in business is predicated on a belief in potential rewards, balanced with the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of all of the risks taken to pursue those potential rewards. The key individuals involved in governance and risk management (see section IV of this document) have a responsibility to stakeholders, including the general public, as well as to financial stability. They must ensure that they do not give disproportionate weight to personal gain, or to the benefit of the organization, to the detriment of public good and of financial stability.

Read more: PRMIA.com.

Risk assessment expert witnesses may opine on risk analysis, enterprise risk management, financial risk management, and related topics.

Financial decisions, such as insurance, express loss in terms of dollar amounts. When risk assessment is used for public health or environmental decisions, loss can be quantified in a common metric, such as a country’s currency, or some numerical measure of a location’s quality of life. For public health and environmental decisions, loss is simply a verbal description of the outcome, such as increased cancer incidence or incidence of birth defects.

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_assessment.

In Testifying as an expert witness in computer crimes cases, Deb Shinder writes:

To testify as an expert, you must be formally qualified and accepted as such by the judge presiding over the case. This qualification process is generally “on the record,” with questions asked of the witness in court to establish his/her expert status (this is called a voir dire examination). Because juries tend to believe whatever a professed expert says without question, judges must be convinced that you are competent, knowledgeable, and credible before allowing you to testify. To establish you as an expert, the attorney that is calling you to testify will ask you questions about your education and training, skills and experience, awards and recognitions, and so forth. Some factors that help to establish your expertise include:

* Advanced academic degrees or advanced training in your field.

Aerosols expert witnesses may write reports and opine on aerosol sprays, airborne solid particles, and household chemicals. The National Aerosol Association describes how an aerosol works:

The aerosol package is a self-contained dispensing system with three main elements:

1. Active Ingredients (soap or disinfectant, etc.)

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.

There are two areas of inquiry. Financially, what will be the required dollar reserves provided from the developer to the association and physically, what are the benchmark building and site improvement conditions at this point in time? Make no mistake, Turnover is the absolute factual benchmark in time which will forever trigger future responsibilities, financial obligations and duties by all parties to the Turnover process.

For instance, perhaps you are interested in purchasing a unit in a newly constructed condominium and you need to test the long term viability of your investment. What will be the capital building reserve responsibilities of the new condominium association after the developer turns the project over to the new individual owners. Or suppose for the last 15 years you have lived in a rental apartment complex that recently was purchased by a developer, intending to convert it to condominium ownership. What are the responsibilities of the developer to prepare the complex for a future condominium sale.

Bicycle safety expert witnesses may opine on bicycle design, bicycle maintenance, bicycle safet, and related topics. Here, the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute discusses Bicycle Helmet Standards:

Summary: The Consumer Product Safety Commission bike helmet standard is required by law in the US. Some of the Snell Memorial Foundation standards are a bit more difficult to pass, but are not often used. American Society for Testing and Materials continues to produce standards for other activities such as skating, skiing and downhill bicycle racing. Australia, Canada, Europe and others have bicycle helmet standards as well, and we discuss them below.

Read more: bhsi.org.

In Chest Pain & Medical Malpractice, medical malpractice expert witness Barry Gustin, M.D. writes:

On the other hand, older patients whose chest pain increases with palpation of the chest wall may not only have benign chest wall pain particularly if their history, physical exam or ancillary studies suggest a cardiac or pulmonary problem. The same holds true for patients who have a history of stomach ulcers or esophageal reflux and who gain some relief with anti-ulcer/reflux medications. The physician should be careful no to overlook symptoms, signs or other clues which may point to an underlying co-existing cardiac or pulmonary life-threatening illness.

Physicians should not rely too heavily on the electrocardiograms or cardiac enzymes in the ER. The medical literature is replete with studies demonstrating prior acute AMIs in patients with normal electrocardiograms. This phenomena occurs in from 5% to 20% of patients depending upon the study. Cardiac enzymes may be normal in the emergency room too but become elevated hours later because elevated levels are not detected until 4 to 8 hours after the heart muscle is damaged. Therefore, a normal or non-diagnostic ECG and normal cardiac enzymes can not rule out acute cardiac disease or negate the decision to admit a patient with a possible AMI.