By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Expert Witnesses are now being faced with retaining counsel refusing to be responsible for payment of the expert fees. Counsel will ask the expert to sign an agreement stating: “All billings will be submitted to our firm. However, payment of these bills will be the sole responsibility of our client. You… read more
INTRODUCTION: THE CORROSION BATTLE The battle of corrosion is a constant fight because of the curse of all paint coating technologists – thermodynamics! The Second Law of Thermodynamics states, in simplified terms, that the naturally occurring state of matter is its lowest energy state, similar to humans on weekends. Metals ordinarily exist naturally as oxides… read more
By: Steven Babitsky, Esq. Do life care planners have to take into account the impact of the ACA when calculating future medical expenses? This issue is now of real concern to all life care planners. In the April 2015 issue of For the Defense entitled The ACA and Market-rate Predictably for Future Damages, attorneys Miller… read more
By Homer R. Peterson II, P.E., CSP Construction Falls are the Leading Cause of Construction Worker Deaths According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 4,251 workers were killed on the job in private industry in 2014. Construction worker deaths accounted for 874, or 20.5%, of these worker fatalities. Construction falls are currently the leading… read more
I spend a lot of time qualifying Chinese factories, helping my clients identify new sources and resolving production and quality problems. You wouldn’t believe some of the things I have seen. And when a new fad product arrives on the scene, I cannot help but wonder what might go wrong because there are plenty of… read more
Expert witnesses will often be subject to a subpoena which will require that the expert bring certain items with them to their expert witness deposition. Below is an example of an expert witness subpoena duces tecum created by renowned Trial Attorney Michael Watters of O’Brien Watters & Davis, LLP in Santa Rosa, California: The documents… read more
In matters of hospital and healthcare facility negligence, an experienced nursing administration expert witness can provide valuable assistance in identifying and evaluating whether existing hospital and healthcare facility regulatory and accreditation standards apply to case issues. What regulatory and accreditation standards apply to the hospital and health care facility setting? The following lists the most… read more
CASE: 43-year-old male presents to the ER with chief complaint of vomiting blood and epigastric (upper stomach) pain. Approximately 1 hour prior to presenting to the ER, he finished dinner with his family of 5; became nauseated and sweaty; and vomited his meal mixed with a large amount of dark red blood. His wife states… read more
More than 27 million Americans undergo noncardiac surgery annually. Cardiac complications can be a major source of morbidity and mortality in the perioperative period. The focus of the preoperative evaluation for patients with preexisting atrial fibrillation is to (1) assess rate and/or rhythm control; (2) identify patients with valvular disease or heart failure; (3) determine… read more
Atrial fibrillation (AF) patients and treating physicians have to remember that stroke represents a devastating complication from AF. There exists many situations where one can live reasonably well with partially damaged organs; the brain is often not one of these. Sight, memory, speech, cognition, ambulation, and continence are all brain-controlled functions that directly relate to… read more
