Expert Witness Blog

Biotechnology means any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use. For instance, biotechnology is applied to improve or facilitate cellular processes such as energy metabolism, gene transfer between unrelated species, or the engineering of enzymes for large scale production of drugs.

Green biotechnology deals with the use of environmentally-friendly solutions as an alternative to traditional agriculture, horticulture, and animal breeding processes. An example is the designing of transgenic plants that are modified for improved flavor, for increased resistance to pests and diseases, or for enhanced growth in adverse weather conditions. Biotechnology expert witnesses may opine on biofortification, metabolic manipulation, etc.

Read more: biologyonline.org.

Litigation funding expert witnesses may opine on litigation financial options and settlements. In Third Party Financing of Litigation, Paul H. Rubin, Department of Economics Emory University, writes:

The common law has long forbidden third party investment in lawsuits based on “champerty” and related doctrines. More recently, these restrictions have been relaxed, although they may not have been entirely eliminated in the U.S. While it might appear efficient to allow such investment, in fact it is not. The effect of relaxing restrictions will be to increase litigation.

When there are benefits of litigation these are deterrence of harmful activities. However, the U.S. already goes much farther than any other country in allowing class actions and other group based litigation, and so any benefits of increased litigation are likely to be small or nonexistent.

Litigation finance expert witnesses may opine on litigation financial options and attorneys fees, among other topics. Litigation funding is a practice in which individuals who are plaintiffs in lawsuits receive money from firms and individuals who take a lien on the proceeds of a personal injury suit in return for ready cash. It is not considered a loan as the money does not have to be repaid if the plaintiff’s law suit is unsuccessful. It is a nonrecourse debt. Funding companies also advance money to attorneys against anticipated legal fees earned in a personal injury matter.

In A Fee Limitation Rule for Litigation Finance, Michael B. Abramowicz of The George Washington University School of Law writes:

Interest rates on such loans are accordingly well in excess of typical market rates, but the arrangements may be beneficial to plaintiffs who do not have enough cash on hand to finance a lawsuit and who either cannot obtain funds through traditional loan sources or do not want to risk the possibility of facing a large debt if the lawsuit fails. The social welfare case for litigation finance is simple. Such financing enables liquidity-constrained plaintiffs to bring more cases and to prosecute cases more effectively. Increased funding for litigation should thus reduce legal error and help achieve the legal system’s goals, including both compensation and deterrence of negligent or wrongful acts.

Pesticide products expert witnesses may opine on fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. On their website, the Chemical Producers & Distributors Association announces that an updated version of the Pesticide Registration Manual, also known as the “Blue Book,” is now available on EPA’s web site. The manual describes EPA’s review and decision making process for registering a pesticide product and its use. Detailed information for pesticide registrants concerning their responsibilities before, during and after the review process is also included in the manual. EPA is hoping to make available in the near future an electronic version of the “Blue Book” in PDF format. The Agency intends to make subsequent updates to individual chapters of the manual as needed. The “Blue Book” may be accessed at http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/registrationmanual/.

Pesticides expert witnesses may opine on pesticide contamination, insects, and pest control. In Keeping an Eye on Washington, July 2010, the Chemical Producers & Distributors Association writes:

In the June 15, 2010 Federal Register, EPA published a proposed rule to amend the pesticide container and containment regulations to provide a one-year extension of the labeling compliance date from August 16, 2010 to August 16, 2011. Under the proposal, pesticide products released for shipment by a registrant after August 16, 2011 would be required to bear a label that complies with the container requirements. The pesticide container and containment regulations, promulgated on August 16, 2006, include requirements for container design; procedures, standards, and label language to facilitate removal of pesticide residue prior to container disposal or recycling, and criteria for containment of stationary pesticide containers and procedures for container refilling operations.

A final rule published on October 29, 2008 amended the 2006 regulations to extend the original compliance date of August 16, 2009 to August 16, 2010. However, EPA has concluded there is insufficient time to change all labels by the revised August 16, 2010 compliance date due to several factors: 1) more antimicrobial product labels than expected require alternate rinsing instructions rather than the standard text as set forth in the regulations (such statements on the label must be made through the more time-consuming amendment process rather than through the more simplified notification mechanism); 2) EPA’s position on the appropriate container-related statements, particularly rinsing and treatment of rinsate, for certain pesticides has changed over time as a result of experience with product-by-product label reviews and this, EPA notes, has created confusion within the registrant community; and, 3) the length of time for states to review and approve labels is increasing due to staffing reductions and furloughs brought about by budget shortfalls.

Reverse engineering expert witnesses may opine on failed components and reverse engineering. RE is the process of taking something (a device, an electrical component, a software program, etc.) apart and analyzing its workings in detail, usually with the intention to construct a new device or program that does the same thing without actually copying anything from the original.

RE is frequently used on computer hardware and software. Software reverse engineering involves reversing a program’s machine code (the string of 0s and 1s that are sent to the logic processor) back into the source code that it was written in, using program language statements.

Software reverse engineering is done to retrieve the source code of a program because the source code was lost, to study how the program performs certain operations, to improve the performance of a program, to fix a bug, to identify malicious content in a program such as a virus or to adapt a program written for use with one microprocessor for use with another.

Forensic engineering expert witnesses may opine on reverse engineering, failed components, and metal fatigue. Here, Wikipedia describes metal fatigue:

In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.

Fatigue occurs when a material is subjected to repeated loading and unloading. If the loads are above a certain threshold, microscopic cracks will begin to form at the surface. Eventually a crack will reach a critical size, and the structure will suddenly fracture. The shape of the structure will significantly affect the fatigue life; square holes or sharp corners will lead to elevated local stresses where fatigue cracks can initiate. Round holes and smooth transitions or fillets are therefore important to increase the fatigue strength of the structure.

Bars and lounges expert witnesses may opine on bar security, lounge security, and night club security. Consumer’s Guide to Nightclub Safety writes:

Do you know what the military does to ensure that teams achieve their aims? They establish rendezvous points. Pick a well defined area outside the nightclub to meet up with your friends. Then when there is an emergency, be sure to see them at your rendezvous point.

Do you know where the exits are? Before you enter a nightclub you should have an understanding of where the closest exit doors are. Are the exits distinctly marked and well lighted? If the exit paths are blocked, report the violation to management and leave the building if they do not listen to you. Then make sure to register a complaint with your local fire marshal.

Nightclub expert witnesses may opine on bar security, lounge security, and night club security. Consumer’s Guide to Nightclub Safety writes:

Every day violent murders, stabbings and significant brawls occur at nightclubs throughout the nation. Can nightclub managers protect their customers from these dangerous incidents? The answer is dependent upon whether they are serious regarding their security and whether they have the correct tools and coaching, but consumers and patrons of nightclubs usually do not have any idea what security methodologies and technologies exist at a nightclub. So what should people do to ensure their own safety?

Critical questions you should ask yourself prior to you enter any nightclub: