ARTICLES

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.

3/8/2017· Premises Liability

Retail Safety Hints: The Proof Is In the Video Replay...

By: Jerry Birnbach

The Patriots won the Super Bowl because they had more Angels on the field which was my Expert observation. As an Expert Witness for Retail liability case, assisting Liability Attorney's across the country, I have trained my eye to observe. So what did I take away from the Super Bowl?

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).

1/27/2017· Documentation Examination & Analysis

Authenticity of Questioned Signature on Life Insurance After Brain Surgery

By: Mike Wakshull

The decedent signed a life insurance beneficiary form a few weeks after having brain surgery. The plaintiff claimed the signature was not executed by the decedent. The defense claimed that the decedent had signed the document and the differences are attributed to the effects of brain surgery.

1/24/2017· Psychiatry

Persons With Depressive Symptoms And The Treatments They Receive: A Comparison Of Primary Care Physicians And Psychiatrists

By: Dr. David Pingitore

Objective: To determine if demographic differences exist in patients with depressive symptoms as the principal reason for visits to primary care physicians (PCP) versus psychiatrists. To estimate the likelihood of these patients receiving a range of mental health services from each provider group. Methods: Review and analysis of all outpatient visits made by patients with depressive symptoms using the National Ambulatory Medical Care Surveys (NAMCS) conducted in 1995 and 1996. Results: A significantly greater proportion of visits by persons with depressive symptoms as the principal reason for visit were made to psychiatrists than to primary care physicians (T = -3.56, P = .000).

12/28/2016· Transportation

Autonomous and Inevitable, Part 1: What is to Come, and What is Already Here

By: Ned Einstein

National Bus Trader has always been a leader in its selection and treatment of topics related to technology and innovation. So the decision to craft a lengthy article about NBT Editor Larry Plachno's experiences "behind-the-wheel" of a motorcoach-of-the-future at a "ZF Ride & Drive" event in Aachen, Germany (NBT, September, 2016) should not have been a surprise. Nor should it come as a surprise that safety, liability and other issues related to this technology will be explored as well.