Expert Witness Blog

In Homebuyers And Credit Score Requirements For FHA Loans, finance expert witness Daniel Milstein writes:

If you are buying a home, then you need to understand the credit requirements for FHA loans. FHA Underwriters are the people that work for the FHA mortgage lenders and make the decisions on loans. Although FHA loans are one of the easiest loans to get in today’s real estate market, you still need to prove that you have a history of paying your bills on time.

FHA loans typically require that you have no late payments of 30 days or more on revolving or installment accounts and no collection or judgment accounts within the past 12 months. Being able to show that you have a good credit history is the most effective way for you to give the FHA lender confidence that you will be able to make your new mortgage payments on time each month.

In What is a finance expert witness?, wiseGeek writes:

In the majority of cases, the potential finance expert witness will be interviewed and asked to give his or her credentials. He or she will also be questioned by the opposing attorney, and his or her demeanor while answering questions will be studied. The person hired should be believable and likable to avoid turning off the jury. He or she should be good at handling pressure during cross examination, and giving answers to complicated questions in terms that jurors will understand.

Payment is generally offered to the finance expert witness for each day he or she is involved with the case. Aside from the actual trial, the witness will often be asked to review files and conduct studies involving financial records in questions. After everything has been studied, he or she will have to give an expert opinion on the findings. The opinion should not be in conflict with the attorney’s case, otherwise another witness may be hired.

What is a finance expert witness?

A finance expert witness is someone with specialized knowledge in economics or finance who is petitioned to provide a testimony during a court trial. His or her expertise will be used to prove or disprove theories or facts presented in the case. Both the prosecution and the defendant’s attorney may hire a finance expert witness if necessary.

The main criteria needed for someone to become a finance expert witness is that he or she have substantial knowledge in finance and be established as an expert in the field. This knowledge may have been obtained through education, experience, or a combination of the two. Published papers, awards, and other achievements may also be taken into consideration when choosing a witness.

In Identifying the Source of a Power Surge, forensic failure analysis expert witness Mamoon Alyah, P.E., answers the question “Is it possible to differentiate between lightning related surges and artificially generated electrical surges?”

Lightning-related surge has a significantly larger amount of energy (magnitude) compared to artificially generated surges. Despite the greater amount of energy, lightning lasts for a very short period of time (duration) when compared to many types of artificially generated surges. As a result, differences in magnitude and duration lead to different signs of damage.

Damage caused by lightning tends to be catastrophic and localized, while damage caused by artificially generated surges is less severe but more widespread. Due to these differences, the nature and extent of damage sustained by a piece of equipment could indicate the source of a power surge.

Engineered composites expert witnesses may opine on vinyl chloride polymers, electroactive polymers, functional polymers, and more. Here, the International Cast Polymer Alliance describes cultured marble, cultured granite and cultured onyx:

Cultured Marble, Cultured Granite and Cultured Onyx, as their names imply, have the look of genuine marble, granite or onyx. Cultured marble, granite and onyx products are usually manufactured with a high-gloss coating, called a “gel coat”, applied during the manufacturing process, which becomes an integral part of the cultured marble, granite or onyx product. Colorants may be added to the polymer/filler matrix in a manner which provides a “veining” which mimics the appearance of natural products. The polymer casting process yields a rock hard, durable product which takes on the look and feel of the natural product.

Copyright infringement expert witnesses may opine on copyright notice, copyright infringement, and copyright limitations. On their website, the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law describes the Copyright Act:

It is illegal for anyone to violate any of the rights provided by the copyright code to the owner of copyright. These rights, however, are not unlimited in scope. Sections 107 through 120 of the 1976 Copyright Act establish limitations on these rights. In some cases,

these limitations are specified exemptions from copyright liability. One major limitation is the doctrine of “fair use,” which is given a statutory basis in section 107 of the Act. In other instances, the limitation takes the form of a “compulsory license” under which certain limited uses of copyrighted works are permitted upon payment of specified royalties and compliance with statutory conditions. For further information about the limitations of any of these rights,

On his website, Consultox.com, forensic toxicology expert witness Dr. Roger A Parent writes on generic drugs:

Acceptable limits of impurities may be specified in the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) and may be considered in the qualification of an impurity. If the impurity does not appear in the USP monographs, you may qualify it by comparison with the observed amount of that impurity as found in the reference listed drug product (RLD). As an alternative, the impurity may be qualified by justification in the scientific literature, metabolite data, or with toxicity studies. An impurity is considered qualified when it meets one or more of the following conditions.

* The observed level and proposed acceptance criterion for the impurity do not exceed the level observed in the referenced listed drug product.