Expert Witness Blog

Electrical expert witness David J. Marne, P.E., is the author of McGraw-Hill’s National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®) Handbook. Here he explains the difference between the NESC® and the NEC®:

The National Electrical Safety Code® (NESC®) governs the construction, operation, and maintenance of utility lines, substations, and generating plants. It covers both electric power and communication lines from the generating plant to the customer’s meter. The NESC® used primarily by utility employees.

The National Electrical Code® (NEC®) governs the customer’s installation after the meter: homes, factories, industrial facilities, etc. The NEC® is used primarily by homeowners, electrical contractors, and electrical designers.

In The World Trade Center Property Insurance Trial: Lessons Learned?, insurance claims expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

Although this was a complicated and large insurance placement that taxed the world market capacity and there was pressure to complete it to meet the 7/24/01 deadline for the closing of the WTC lease, there is no excuse for the failure of the parties to reach explicit agreement on which form applied when coverage was bound, let alone by 9/11/01, almost two months after binding. By no means was this a unique placement as there are many other large insurance programs just as large and complicated, which must be placed in a relatively short time frame. Undoubtedly, various issues and problems that led to litigation in this case exists in many other instances but will remain hidden absent of a claim and subsequent dispute about coverage.

In HEAD INJURY : WOULD A HELMET HAVE HELPED?, bicycle accidents expert witnesses at Walters Forensic Engineering write:

Brain Injuries
In general, brain injuries caused by impacts are produced by one of two mechanisms. Sudden deceleration is one of these, and in such a case the brain is injured due to its motion inside the head, including collisions with the inside of the skull. The notable feature of this kind of injury is that the brain may suffer serious trauma even where the skull remains undamaged. The other mechanism of brain injury occurs when the skull is cracked or penetrated, in which case brain injury can occur regardless of the level of head acceleration during impact.

In Mold, Housing and Wood, wood products experts at the Western Wood Products Association write:

Poor ventilation and/or air circulation combined with high indoor humidity ­ from showers, cooking or other activities ­ can result in condensation that promotes mold growth on cooler surfaces. Poorly insulated walls may also provide a surface for condensation and mold growth in buildings that do not have general humidity problems.

Surface moisture on unseasoned framing lumber, appearing as the wood dries, may create conditions for mold growth. However, once the moisture content of the wood falls below 20 percent, mold growth can no longer be supported. Depending on the climate, framing lumber will dry to below 20 percent moisture content during the construction and before the building is enclosed.

In Driver Fatigue is the Number One Safety Issue in the Truck and Bus Industry, fatigue expert witness Dennis Wylie writes:

The causes of driver fatigue, fatigue-induced cognitive impairment, driver drowsiness, and the subjective experience of fatigue include:

excessive hours of work inadequate hours of sleep night time driving irregular work-rest schedules

In Apartment Security and Litigation: Key Issues, criminalistics expert witness Daniel B. Kennedy writes on the nature of premises liability litigation in an apartment setting:

When landlords fail to take appropriate security measures to provide their tenants reasonable protection against criminal attack, a negligent tort arises. A tort is a “private or civil wrong or injury” (Black, 1968: 1660). In order to prove a tort, the plaintiff must establish that (1) the defendant owed a duty to provide reasonable security, (2) the defendant breached the duty to provide reasonable security, (3) this breach of duty was the cause in fact, and (4) was the foreseeable cause of (5) the plaintiff’s injury (Spain, 1992). Generally, these elements must be proven to a civil jury who will decide whether a defendant is liable according to the level of proof known as “preponderance of the evidence.” In other words, if a jury determines that 51 percent or more of the evidence favors the plaintiff, he or she will win and the landlord will lose.

In HEAD INJURY : WOULD A HELMET HAVE HELPED?, bicycle expert witnesses at Walters Forensic Engineering write:

Those of us who work in the legal and insurance industries are aware of the benefits gained through use of protective equipment such as seatbelts and helmets. However, when an accident occurs and liability is in issue, the plaintiff who failed to make use of protective equipment will typically argue that the equipment, if used, would not have reduced the injury suffered. These liability determinations are made by the judge or jury, and establishing the necessary causal connection between the injury suffered and equipment used (or not used) is a matter of expert scientific evidence.

Ergonomics expert witness John D. Lloyd, Ph.D., M.Erg.S., C.P.E., writes on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS):

Symptoms of CTS are usually experienced in the region of the hand served by the median nerve. This encompasses the second to forth fingers and base of the thumb on the palmer side, and backs of the first four fingers on the dorsal side.

Acute CTS is often associated with nocturnal pain and tingling, episodic tingling during the workday and gradual numbness, all of which may be encouraged by certain activties such as abnormal postures, or repetitive or forceful hand motions. Symptoms usually diffuse shortly after the activity is changed.

Acoustic expert witness Angelo J. Campanella, P.E., Ph.D. FASAA explains the difference between sound absorption & sound insulation:

There is often confusion between sound insulation and sound absorption.

Sound is absorbed when it encounters a material which will convert some or all of it into heat, or which allows it to pass through not to return. For this reason good sound absorbers do not of themselves make good sound insulators. Sound insulators rarely absorb sound. Sound absorbers contribute little to sound insulation. They are treated separately in sound control design.

In The World Trade Center Property Insurance Trial: Lessons Learned?, insurance claims expert witness Akos Swierkiewicz writes:

Had the tragic events on 9/11/01 not occurred, we would have never learned about negligence, mistakes, errors and omissions, inconsistencies, and confusion that plagued the placement and negotiation of the property insurance program for the WTC and brought to light during the WTC trial.

The primary parties involved in the litigation were 13 WTC insurers, including Lloyd’s syndicates, counted as one, the broker Willis and their client, Silverstein Properties, the leaseholder. The insurers contended that they were bound by the WilProp 2000 form, which defines “occurrence” and would limit the WTC claim to $3.5 billion, while Silverstein’s position was that the Travelers’ form applied, which does not define occurrence and would respond to the each of the WTC towers separately, resulting in a $7.0 billion loss payment.