Recreation and Sports Accidents Expert Witnesses: 12

Gordon Giesbrecht, PhD, is a professor emeritus (ret) of Environmental Physiology with emphases on Hypothermia, Drowning, and Cold Weather Survival. Dr. Giesbrecht is also an expert on Vehicle Submersion Deaths. He is a full professor in the Faculties of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, and Medicine (Departments of Anesthesia and Emergency Medicine) at the University of Manitoba.

Dr. Giesbrecht has a Ph.D. in respiratory physiology from the University of Manitoba (Faculty of Medicine) and received post-doctoral training at the University of Calgary (Faculty of Medicine). He has also earned fellowships from the Aerospace Medical Association (FAsMA), Wilderness Medical Association (FAWM) and World Extreme Medicine (FEWM).

Litigation Support - Dr. Giesbrecht has 30 years of experience as a legal consultant, more than 30 years as a published researcher in human environmental stress, and 2 years as a wilderness guide. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

• Human physiological responses to environmental stress (e.g., cold, heat, and altitude)
• Human response to treatment of environmental illnesses [cold (hypothermia and frostbite) and heat (heat illness and heat stroke)]
• Drowning prevention, mechanisms, and treatment
• Vehicle submersion: vehicle sinking characteristics, self-rescue strategies, and protocols for emergency response operators
• Human factors and emergency response training

Dr. Giesbrecht is widely published in the field of environmental medicine, including being the lead author on immersion hypothermia in a leading textbook of Wilderness Medicine.  He has co-created several internationally known educational programs for medical, law enforcement, military, and search and rescue professionals. These include Baby It’s Cold Outside, and Beyond Cold Water Boot Camp.  His extensive human research studies have provided data for survival models for lost mariners that are used by the US Coast Guard (Probability of Survival Decision Aid) and the Canadian Coast Guard (Cold Exposure Survival Model). Dr. Giesbrecht has also created protocols for emergency response operators for Vehicles in Water, and Vehicles Stranded in Flood Water.

Dr. Giesbrecht’s work has earned him the Arnold D Tuttle Award from the Aerospace Medical Association for contributions to cold water immersion physiology, survival, and medical treatment. He has also been awarded the Blair Erb World Congress Award for worldwide impact on wilderness medicine from the Wilderness Medical Society, and the Education and Training Award of the National Search and Rescue Program Awards of Excellence (Canada).

Finally, Dr. Giesbrecht has been a consultant for the military in the US, Canada, and Sweden (including US Special Forces and JTF2 in Canada), as well as the Coast Guard in both the US and Canada. He has also worked with the FBI and other law enforcement organizations across the US and Canada.

William B. Stetson, MD is an Orthopedic Surgeon who specializes in Sports Medicine with an expertise in Arthroscopic and Reconstructive Surgery of the shoulder, knee, elbow and ankle. He is an Associate Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine and the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

Dr. Stetson spends over 90% of his time in clinical practice and research and has over ten years experience as an expert witness and in reviewing complex medical-legal issues. He is the Team Physician for the USA Men's and Women's Olympic Indoor Volleyball Teams and accompanied both teams to the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, England. He is a former athlete himself, a two time All-American volleyball player at the University of Southern California (USC). He is also a recipient of the NCAA's prestigious Silver Anniversary Award, given to former NCAA athletes who have gone on to distinguish themselves after graduation. 

Areas of Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Specialization:

View Dr. Stetson's Consulting Profile.

Douglas Baumgarten, M.S., offers consulting and expert witness services related to Fitness, Health Clubs, Exercise Equipment, Personal Training and Sports. Mr. Baumgarten is a graduate of Harvard University and California University of Penna. (M.S. Exercise Science). He is a certified Health/Fitness Director (Amer. Coll. of Sports Medicine), Performance Enhancement Specialist, Medical Exercise Specialist, Bike Fitter, cycling coach, and baseball/softball official.  He is a former Adjunct Professor of Health and Fitness Management at Marymount University.

Mr. Baumgarten has over 40 years in the fitness industry, as personal trainer, manager, consultant, equipment dealer, President of a large fitness company, and owner of SportFit Consulting. He has contributed to Fitness Management magazine, Boardroom magazine, Club Management magazine, and other publications.  

Litigation Support -  Mr. Baumgarten has over 18 years of experience as a legal expert, on cases from equipment accidents to health club employee conduct. He works with both plaintiffs and defendants, and has testified in federal, state, civil and criminal courts.  Douglas Baumgarten has the experience and expertise to assist in cases involving:

View Douglas Baumgarten's Consulting Profile.

Quality Forensic Engineering, LLC is a full-service forensic engineering firm, providing engineering support to clients in the areas of accident reconstruction, biomechanics, fire investigations, patent litigation analysis, premises liability, product liability, and tire failure analysis. We use the latest technology and industry proven techniques to provide thorough analysis and conclusions for the most difficult engineering questions. Our forensic engineers support clients throughout the U.S. Headquartered in Tallahassee, FL, we have locations in Jacksonville, FL; Melbourne, FL; Tampa, FL; Indianapolis, IN; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; and Tucson, AZ.

Dr. Brian Pfeifer, PhD, PE - Dr. Pfeifer is an Engineering Expert with over 27 years of experience investigating thousands of cases involving a variety of forensic engineering issues. He is a leading expert in accident reconstruction, roadside safety, maintenance of traffic, commercial vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents, bicycle accidents, and the analysis of mechanical systems and product failures. Dr. Pfeifer has a strong background in the design, development, and implementation of roadside safety hardware including guardrails, bridge rails, and crash cushions. Over 30 patents have been filed worldwide on behalf of Dr. Pfeifer and associated colleagues who invented safer guardrail systems, vehicle storage systems, shipping container handling systems, and material handling and storage methods. He has also utilized his technical knowledge and understanding of patents to assist in a number of matters involving patent litigation.

Dr. Pfeifer has published numerous papers to various organizations, covering topics such as new guardrail systems, energy absorbing guardrail terminals, breakaway sign mechanisms, and material handling technology. He has shared his expertise with many organizations on topics including vehicle collisions, bicycle accidents, roadway construction zones, and accident reconstruction expert witness utilization. Dr. Pfeifer is a registered Professional Engineer in nine states and he continues to refine his skills and knowledge of accident reconstruction and roadside safety by staying current with new technology and best practices. Dr. Pfeifer has extensive experience with providing deposition and trial testimony as an Engineering Expert. See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

Dr. Ian M. Zeller, PhD, ACTAR, is an accomplished engineer with more than 10 years of experience in Biomechanics and Computational Dynamics fields. He has investigated hundreds of cases ranging from motor vehicle accidents, recreational incidents, medical device designs, as well as injuries from product liability all across the United States. 

Dr. Zeller has graduate level experience in computational dynamics and orthopedic biomechanics with a specific emphasis in dynamics, vibrations, joint contact mechanics, and muscle control during static and dynamic loading applications. Dr. Zeller’s past research includes clinical and computational analysis of the human body with respect to the design and implantation of orthopedic devices for the knee, hip, and spine. He has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented research at both technical and surgical conferences in North America, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Zeller also worked with surgeons across the United States in the design and assessment of knee replacement devices, including personalized and prototype devices to optimize for efficacy and safety. 

Dr. Zeller is also accredited as a traffic accident reconstructionist and continues to conduct research as well as maintain a current knowledge of developing trends and best practices in the biomechanics and engineering fields. Dr. Zeller has published to various organizations on topics ranging from knee replacement design, forward solution modeling, joint mechanics, personalized joint replacements, material structures and properties as well as biological modeling of disease distributions. He also has an extensive testifying history including depositions, trials, and arbitrations.

 See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

Michael R. Hill, PhD, PE, is a Biomechanical Engineer passionate about applying biomechanics techniques to solve diverse problems in forensics, medical research, engineering, biology, science, and mathematics. He is an expert in experimental, theoretical, and computational Tissue Biomechanics, with a focus on injury mechanisms, human tissue damage, and nonlinear soft tissue mechanics.

Dr. Hill’s core strengths are in orthopedic and cardiovascular biomechanics, vehicle accident reconstruction, injury consistency analysis, mechanical design, instrumentation, experimental analysis, numerical methods, simulation, statistics, and image processing. Dr. Hill has lectured in the field of biomechanics and numerical methods, and his research has been published in 16 academic articles and presented at 40 international and national scientific conferences.

See Full Bio & CV.

Expertise:

View Quality Forensic Engineering's Industrial Forensic Engineering Expert Witness Profile.

Pool Operation Management (POM), founded in 1980, is an Aquatics Safety and Risk Management firm that is nationally recognized for pool consulting services including liability and risk management, compliance with governmental regulations, facility operations, mechanical questions, and personnel requirements. Trevor A. Sherwood II has extensive experience in the swimming pool industry, with 30 years of experience in service, consulting, training and education, code/regulations development, and expert witness. He has contributed to aquatic textbooks and related articles, influenced State Recreational Bathing Codes, and presented at national industry conferences. He has provided leadership to such organizations as National Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF), Northeast Spa & Pool Association (NESPA), Community Association Institute - New Jersey Chapter (CAI), New Jersey Apartment Association (NJAA), New Jersey Parks and Recreation Society (NJPRS), Pennsylvania Parks and Recreation Society (PRPS) and New Jersey and Massachusetts Health Departments. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. Mr. Sherwood's extensive swimming pool consulting experience qualifies him to appear in court on the following matters:

View Consulting Profile.

Mari S. Truman, PE, has more than 40 years of experience in Orthopedic Product Design and Development. As Principal Engineer with her company, Orthobiomech, LLC, she acts as an R&D design and development consultant to the orthopaedic industry and an injury biomechanics and medical device forensic expert. Ms. Truman's design experience includes implants and instrumentation systems used to repair fractured bones, torn ligaments and/or to reconstruct spine, knee, wrist, hip, ankle, elbow, thumb based cmc, and other finger and toe joints for many of the USA based orthopaedic conglomerates and a few Asian, Australian and European firms. Having designed and developed implants and instruments used for both human joint reconstruction and skeletal trauma repair, Ms. Truman is named on 12 Orthopaedic Patents and frequently gives talks on implant design and injury biomechanics on topics such as: knee and thumb-based joint surfaces and kinematics, joint design, rapid prototyping, medical device design control, and injury biomechanics. Litigation Support - Ms. Truman has been providing Forensic Impact and Injury Biomechanics and Orthopedic Biomechanics to the legal industry for over 15 years. She draws on her strong knowledge of FDA and ISO EN13485 compliant design control processes, failure modes and effects analysis, clinically relevant tissue loading, and design safety assurance, including device performance requirements and warnings, during her medical device litigation reviews. Ms. Truman has a strong knowledge of the production and quality assurance processes used in the manufacture, cleaning, and sterilization of medical devices and the effects of such processes on product performance. Analysis of Traumatic Injuries Related To:

View OrthoBioMech LLC's Consulting Profile.

Martyn C. Thake is an expert specializing in Motorsports, Motorsport Special Events, and Motorsport TV Production Set Safety. With more than 40 years of comprehensive experience, he has worked on more than 100 facilities around the world.

Litigation Support - As an experienced expert witness, Martyn has performed hundreds of operational reviews, track inspections, designs and redesigns for CART / Champcar, IMSA, ALMS, FIA, IRL and SCCA, as well as insurance companies and independent clients from around the world. He has advised and testified for both plaintiff and defendant in the areas of:

Background Experience - Encompassing all areas of: facility design, operation and management, racetrack design, construction management, event promotion, event management, operations and logistics management, sanctioning body track inspection, insurance inspection, risk management inspection, risk assessment, safety plan design and implementation, event management planning and implementation, race car design and manufacture, performance driving instruction and emergency service dispatch.

More than 100 different motorsports and entertainment facilities (including drag strips, dirt ovals, paved ovals, go-kart tracks, motor-cross tracks, permanent road courses, 30+ temporary street races, temporary events, and TV shows) around the world have benefited from his input on their operations procedures and facility/track design, redesign, and inspection. 

As an FIA track inspector, Martyn currently serve as the backup inspector for FIA-licensed tracks (Grade 2 or higher). He is an instructor for the SCCA’s Track Reviewer program and a motorsports submission reviewer for the NFPA.

Martyn was a founding board member of the Motorsports Safety Foundation. MSF is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving safety standards in all forms of motorsport. As Director of Circuit Development for CART and Champcar (2001-2006), he was responsible for the operational readiness of the racetrack and operational television production for all the tracks the series raced on. 

Laura Miele, PhD, CST-2, is a Sport, Fitness, and Education Expert with over 30 years of experience in various aspects of sport, fitness, and physical activity including the education, training, and supervision of athletes. Dr. Miele is a Nationally Certified Accredited Interscholastic Coach through the National Federation of State High School Association (NFHS) and has 14 years of physical education experience, (Pre-kindergarten-12) within multiple states across the country.  

Background Experience - Dr. Miele played Division I basketball at Arizona State; was Tight End for the Arizona Caliente, of the Women’s Professional Football League; and was also a New York Golden Gloves semi-finalist in 2004. She began coaching athletes in 1986 and has been involved as a personal exercise and fitness trainer since 1994.  She has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe as an athlete and coach and has been involved in consulting, coaching and teaching a wide range of sports including but not limited to; Basketball, Gymnastics, Volleyball, Softball, Baseball, Football, Archery, Bowling, Figure Skating, Hockey, Boxing, Wrestling, Field Sports, Golf, Soccer, Swimming, Track and Field, and Tennis. 

Dr. Miele is a level 2 Certified Service Technician for the International Association of Trampoline Parks. She serves on the Sports Equipment, Playing Surfaces, and Facilities Committee and currently serves and assists on the task force that is in the process of creating the standards for Amusement Challenge Areas. She has given numerous presentations on the topics of sport injury prevention as well as supervision and safety in Amusement Challenge Courses / Trampoline Parks Risk Management.

Litigation Support - Dr. Miele is an expert in fitness, sport and recreation with specific expertise in sports psychology, coaching, recreation, personal training, fitness facilities management/operations, and injury prevention. She is an accomplished athlete as well as an experienced trainer, coach and teacher. She provides expert witness services to attorneys for both plaintiff and defendant. Her services include thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. 

Dr. Miele has relevant experience in the proper teaching standards required by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) for the:

• Proper Supervision Before, During, and After School
• Skill Progression and Instruction
• Proper Use of Safety Equipment
• Practices related to the Role and Responsibilities of Teachers and Administrators  

Areas of Expertise:

• Fitness Facility Operations including Personal Training, Supervision, Risk Management, and Injury Prevention
• Physical Education, Sport and Recreation-Risk Management
• School / Teacher Supervision-Playground-Recess
• Proper Coaching Training Practices and Procedures in Sports
• Gymnastics, Trampoline Parks / Amusement Challenge Courses
• Emergency Preparation and Response in Schools, Fitness and Sport Facilities

John L. Ryan, BSME, P.E. is a Mechanical Engineer who provides general Mechanical and Structural Engineering expertise. Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) provides full service analysis and accident reconstruction of products involved in accidents. 

Mr. Ryan's services have been requested for attorneys and insurance companies needing forensic engineering expert witness testimony to determine whether machinery and products involved in injury cases were adequately designed or whether they have a Design, Manufacturing, or Material Defect. All products are lab-tested on site to determine adherence to industry standards and engineering design protocol. Alternate preventative designs are developed when none exist commercially. 

Mr. Ryan is available for both Plaintiff and Defense, depending on the individual case. His services include producing high quality reports and visual aids in the courtroom such as scale models to help explain accident scenarios and alternate designs to judges and juries. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Accident Investigation and Reconstruction
• Machine Guarding Accident Investigation
• Climbing Gym Accidents
• Belay Device Failure
• Rock Climbing Accidents
• Fall Protection Failures
• Ladder Failure Investigation
• Tree Stand Failures
• Industrial Accidents
• Power Press Accidents
• Connection Failures
• Bolt Failures
• Weld Failures
• Testing Products to Industry Standards to Determine Compliance
• Design Defect Analysis
• Structural Analysis of Buildings
• Product Liability Investigations
• General Engineering Injuries and Issues
• Industrial safety
• Engineering Continuing Education
• Product Certification

View John Ryan's Consulting Profile.

Harvey C. Voris’ entire engineering career has been devoted to the Fitness Industry. He has over 35 years of Fitness Equipment Design experience and has been issued 7 U.S. utility patents. Mr. Voris has a Bachelors of Science in Engineering from UCLA with a specialization in Bio Structural Mechanics. 

Mr. Voris' Masters in Engineering is from Cal State Long Beach where he specialized in Fatigue and Failure Analysis. He has spent 21 years devoted to the development and promotion of safety standards for the fitness industry. Mr. Voris has authored numerous standards and has chaired the ASTM committee devoted to fitness standards development since 1995. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Voris provides engineering analysis and accident reconstruction related to consumer and fitness products and facilities. His services are available to attorneys representing both plaintiff and defense. With 35 years of experience, a biomechanics background, and extensive experience in design and product testing, Mr. Voris speaks with authority on the following critical issues:

Product Liability - Patent Development - Patent Infringement - Facility Risk Management - Standards Compliance

View Harvey Voris' Consulting Profile.

Ken Tannar’s Golf Expertise is unique in the legal world. As an Errant Golf Ball expert, Mr. Tannar can analyze and give advice on potential damage produced by errant golf balls. With an increase in residential developments built around golf courses, errant golf balls will almost certainly cause damage to property and/or persons. 

Mr. Tannar provides litigation support services on all cases involving golf club / ball interactions. Having consulted on over 70 cases, he uses a highly accurate golf ball projectile model, Mr. Tannar can determine the “zones of danger.” including:

Golf Netting Safety Height - Topographic Errant Ball Analysis - Adjoining Property Errant Golf Ball - Safety Determination

Mr. Tannar has been providing expert advice to golf courses, driving ranges, residential properties and the courts for since 2000. He has advised on cases in Australia, Canada, Norway, Spain, UK and many of the US States.

Dr. C.J. Abraham, P.E. is a Licensed Professional Safety Engineer with over thirty five years of international experience consulting to insurance companies, municipalities, government agencies, and the legal profession. He provides consultation to International corporations in the areas of New Product Development, Manufacturing, Packaging, Warnings and Instructions. 

Dr Abraham's services include Expert Witness Testimony for both Plaintiff and Defense in matters involving Personal Injury and Product Liability. 

Areas of Expertise: