ARTICLES

5/10/2017· Professional Malpractice

On Wearing Two Hats

By: Lawrence Jacobson

A lawyer who is also an expert witness should be mindful that although he or she may not always be wearing his or her "lawyer hat," it is never far away. Although the California Rules of Professional Conduct do not place specific restrictions on practitioners who act as both lawyers and expert witnesses, the rules governing lawyers' conduct generally place constraints on lawyers' activities in other businesses and professions. See California State Bar Ethics Opinion No. 1995-14. Of particular importance are the rules relating to advertising, lawyer-client confidences, competence, fee arbitration, and conflicts of interest.

5/10/2017· Sexual Abuse - Molestation - Harassment

Utilizing an Expert to Assess the Reliability and Credibility of Child Sexual Abuse Victim's Statements in Criminal, Civil, and Family Court Cases

By: Dr. Jane K. McNaught

In forensic interviews, where there are allegations of child sexual abuse, it is imperative that interviewers incorporate the current Professional Standards of Care in order to obtain forensically sound information from the alleged child victim. Interviews that produce unreliable information present significant risk to both the alleged victim as well as perpetrator. Those falsely accused suffer irreparable damage; the risks are equally significant if a perpetrator is allowed to continue to offend, simply because the interviewer used techniques that undermined the forensic reliability and credibility of the child's statements.

5/1/2017· Plants & Trees

The Correct Way to Plant a Tree

By: Christian Plunkett

Whether the companies planting these trees are planting them incorrectly out of ignorance or in pursuit of maximizing profits; get in, get out, get to the next job, I do not know. In either case, it behooves a homeowner or property manager to do their due diligence and educate themselves on proper tree planting technique so that they will recognize when they are receiving a quality service and when they are throwing their money down the drain.

4/28/2017· Insurance

Working With Expert Witnesses: Tips That Are Not In The Civil Rules

By: Frederick Fisher, JD, CCP, and Louie Castoria, Esq

Insurance defense attorneys inhabit a confusing world in which even the "routine case" may need an expert witness for trial or a consultant to help with an early evaluation for settlement purposes. The legal precedents, regulations, and such don't often say what the profession's standard of care in the community is in the exact situation.

4/18/2017· Documentation Examination & Analysis

Birth Certificate Altered to Smuggle Child Into the United States

By: Mike Wakshull

When she was a girl, the young woman had emigrated with her family to the United States from her home country in Africa. She grew up in the northeastern USA and was now attending college. As part of her application for United States citizenship she must present her birth certificate. Her father sent the birth certificate to her. The birth certificate had apparent alterations. Government officials refused to accept the birth as valid because her appearance did not match the age on the birth certificate. She was born in 1994 yet birth certificate appears to state her year of birth as 1984.

3/28/2017· Transportation

Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 3: Extraordinary Developments and Tough Choices

By: Ned Einstein

In a monthly magazine, it is almost impossible to keep up changes that are racing along This past September, 2015, small fleets of Volvos and Ford Fusions were released into the general traffic stream in Pittsburgh, and driverless Anheuser-Busch trucks began delivering Budweiser and Bud Light. The Netherlands and Finland have been deploying driverless motorcoaches for months now. And we already have a few similar services operating in the U.S.

3/20/2017· Damages

Using Internet Analytic Tools for Valuation and Damages Calculations in Internet IP Infringement and Defamation Cases

By: Doug Bania and Brian Buss

Use of the Internet and social media has become an increasingly essential element of conducting business in the United States and globally, which in turn raises new issues for calculating damages and performing valuations. With almost every business now using the Internet and social media to conduct business, cases of Internet IP infringement, IP misuse, and defamation have increased and evolved. Before the rise of these new media, cases of infringement and defamation typically occurred in print or on television and were visually obvious.

2/28/2017· Plants & Trees

What is the Definition of a Hazard Tree?

By: Christian Plunkett

As defined in the tree care industry, a "Hazard Tree" is a tree that poses a level of risk to people or property that exceeds the risk tolerance of the property owner or manger. This means that a tree that may be considered a hazard to one property owner may not be considered to be a hazard by another property owner. Thus, "hazard tree" is a somewhat subjective concept, used when making tree risk management decisions on a particular property, and is not a description of the inherent level of risk actually posed by a particular tree. In the tree care industry the term "hazard tree" is generally reserved to describe a tree that requires immediate removal, or other mitigating actions, to reduce the level of risk posed.

2/27/2017· Forensic Analysis

Forensic Document Examination Reveals Altered Deed of Trust in Divorce Dispute

By: Mike Wakshull

The divorce had been finalized 15 years earlier. The husband had moved on with his life. He was happily remarried and enjoying his retirement years. The ex-wife could not let go. She sued in the Superior Court of Los Angeles claiming the husband would not relinquish rights to real property and other interests that had been part of the divorce settlement.

2/13/2017· Transportation

Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 2: Invasion by Mode, Small Vehicles

By: Ned Einstein

In Part 1 of this series, I identified the enormous range of benefits that would likely accompany even the first wave of autonomous buses, coaches, trucks and delivery vehicles. And I identified a handful of dysfunctional consequences, the most serious of which is a Tsunami of driver unemployment. Lest anyone doubt these inevitabilities, he or she might consider consulting the seven-installment series in National Bus Trader titled "Bad Regulations and Worse Responses" (June 2014 through January 2015).