ARTICLES

12/29/2014· Plants & Trees

Organic Fertilizers: Of Trends, Science and Chickens

By: Joe Samnik

Trends are fascinating and exhilarating phenomena. They allow pundits the opportunity to pontificate upon things which may never happen but are nonetheless given great credence due to the expertise of the pontificator. Trends tend to focus on the minutia of a far greater whole, and more likely than not are short-lived. Trends are fun to watch and a delight to participate in. Trends define goals and give us hope to better ourselves and our communities. We want to become a trendsetter due to its elitism and social stature. We want to follow trendsetters because there's safety in numbers. But lurking in the hallowed halls of this intermittent euphoria lays danger. Nothing can disappear quicker than Elvis Presley sideburns then to follow a trend and ignore the science behind it.

12/22/2014· Insurance

Continuity And Prior/Pending Litigation Exclusions In The Claims-Made Policy Form

By: Frederick Fisher, JD, CCP

The 35-year history of the claims-made policy form has not brought it stability or standardization. In fact, claims-made forms have begun to incorporate with increasing frequency additional and exclusionary language that is unfavorable to the policyholder.

12/17/2014· Transportation

Compromising Safety to Reduce Liability Exposure

By: Ned Einstein

Every responsible society has mechanisms to hold its citizens, and their organizations, accountable for their actions. With respect to safety, our society effects this goal through the enactment and enforcement of statutes and regulations, and through the process of civil litigation. As with most rules and most societies, many of our transportation organizations have discovered loopholes. Employing these loopholes, they have effectively reduced their liability exposure at the cost of compromising safety.

12/10/2014· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

Door Injuries & "The Eggshell Plaintiff"

By: Michael Panish

Every good attorney needs to consider the validity of every potential claim. As the most frequently retained door expert witness, working for both Plaintiff and Defense evenly, I have been retained on door injury and wrongful death claims that were not caused by malfunctioning doors or door hardware. As discovery has often shown, people in poor physical or mental condition who are left unattended or unassisted while moving through properly functioning doorways are often the genesis of their own injuries. All commercial venues have the responsibility to maintain their facilities to industry wide standards, seek proper routine maintenance, and provide daily inspections of their door systems. However, it is difficult to provide safe passage to every patron of their facilities when some of those patrons may include persons requiring diligent physical supervision, special assistance walking, or have special needs due to disease, mental incapacity, or other unknown infirmities.

11/25/2014· Dental - Dentistry

General Anesthesia In The Dental Office

By: Dr. Lee (Mac) Whitesides

As dentistry becomes more competitive, dentists are increasingly looking at unique ways to separate their practices and develop a niche. One such niche lies in the offering of patients' sedation and/or general anesthesia, commonly called "sleep dentistry" during the dental treatment. Since studies show 30% to 50% of Americans avoid the dentists because of fear issues, providing such a service appears to serve a need.

11/24/2014· Plants & Trees

Eminent Domain: The Great Pancake House Summit Meeting

By: Joe Samnik

Oh lo, how many years have passed since one of the country's leading property rights attorneys asked me to meet with him and his assistant to go over my deposition prior to giving it. He was the lead property rights attorney for Florida's oldest law firm. He was located over 400 miles away, and wanted me to meet him at a pancake house at 5:00 AM. My deposition was at 9:00 AM the same day. The matter evolved around the governments taking of private property for public use - eminent domain - which may be found under Article 5 of the Bill of Rights. The issue of eminent domain is, and was, so crucially important to our founding fathers that the same number of jurors required for capital murder is also required for eminent domain trials. When you work in the field of eminent domain you are working in the literal heartbeat of our constitution.

11/24/2014· Plastic / Reconstructive / Cosmetic Surgery

"Facial Revolumizing" Using Dermal Fillers: Tips for Incorporating Hyaluronic Acid Fillers in a Cosmetic Laser Practice

By: Dr. Warren Seiler

With the current boom in noninvasive and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures, many practitioners are learning to use dermal fillers. Novice practitioners will commonly focus more on the lines or "simple-appearing" problem areas in which the patient desires improvement. This common mistake can lead to a lessthan- desirable result and unhappy patient if the "problem" isn't properly addressed.

11/20/2014· Insurance

Construction Risk Management: Claim Auditing

By: Frederick Fisher, JD, CCP

The claims audit is the anathema of day-to-day claim operations. Nothing is more disruptive. Yet, if properly defined, nothing is more informative and helpful in improving a claim management program. This article will examine the need for a regular auditing program and provide a recipe for a three-dimensional approach to the process in order to maximize the accuracy of the audit results.

11/11/2014· Transportation

Bus Positioning and Alignment

By: Ned Einstein

Unlike those of many transit systems, schoolbus stops are not always identified with signage - at either the precise position of the stop or signage indicating that a schoolbus stop is approaching (the black glyph on yellow background). Rarely is the stop zone itself marked (for example, by red-lining the curb). In particular, the failure to mark the stop's precise positioning can be problematic - and occasionally dangerous.

11/4/2014· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

Door Panic Hardware: Getting to Know the Basics

By: Michael Panish

Injuries resulting from panic hardware are more prevalent than you might think. Injuries can be due to lack of maintenance on these devices and/or installation of spurious parts or components.