Product Liability / Defects Expert Witnesses: 48

Dr. J. P. Purswell, PhD, PE, CPE has extensive experience in Human Factors, Ergonomics, and Safety Engineering. He holds a doctorate in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has taught Safety Engineering and Ergonomics in the Industrial Engineering Department at CSU-Pueblo since 1999. 

A member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dr. Purswell also served as the Chair of the Industrial Engineers PE exam from 2005 to 2009. He continues to serve on the committee which is responsible for the preparation of the national professional engineering examination in industrial engineering. 

Dr. Purswell is the author of more than 20 publications and presentations on Product Safety, Occupational Safety, Printed Warnings, and Auditory Warnings. Examples of products addressed include silica, asbestos, cleaning chemicals, gasoline containers, and recreational equipment. Dr. Purswell maintains NIST-calibrated equipment for the measurement of light, sound, force, and whole-body and hand-arm vibration in addition to standard photo and video equipment. 

Litigation Support - An Expert Witness in the legal industry since 1997, Dr. Purswell has been qualified as an expert in state and federal courts across the nation in safety engineering, including safety analysis techniques such as Fault Tree Analysis and FMEA as well as product warnings / instructions and OSHA compliance issues. His services include site inspections, document review, drafting Rule 26-compliant reports, deposition, and trial testimony. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff (40%) and Defense (60%) more than 100 times, has been deposed approximately 50 times, and has testified at trial over 20 times. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

Brett Pond, PhD, PE, CWI, has over 16 years of experience as a Mechanical Engineering and Metallurgical consultant specializing in Forensic Metallurgy (failure analysis).  He has a strong background in the rail industry, having participated in hundreds of derailment investigations and rail related failure analyses. 

Dr. Pond obtained his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis, has Professional Engineering (PE) licensure in 48 states, and is an AWS Certified Welding Inspector (CWI).  He is an active member of ASM International, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), and American Welding Society (AWS), and the National Academy of Forensic Engineers (NAFE).

Dr. Pond has earned international recognition for his failure analysis capabilities and has given technical presentations at multiple Failure Analysis Forums hosted in Shanghai, China. He has a wide range of experience, including: API Fitness for Service (FFS) Evaluations, field testing, mechanical / metallurgical laboratory management, legal expert witness services, and failure analysis for Rail, Food, Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Medical, and Transportation industries. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Pond has provided unbiased mechanical engineering and metallurgical guidance to clients and legal counsel for over 15 years. Having been involved in dozens of legal cases and retained as a lead investigator or expert witness for several of those cases, Dr. Pond is an excellent choice for a mechanical engineering or metallurgical expert witness.

Having managed a mechanical / metallurgical testing laboratory for a leading global testing and inspection company, Dr. Pond is well versed in materials testing, application of domestic and international test standards, and weld / welder qualification testing.  

Areas of Expertise: 

View Pond Industries' Business Consulting Profile.

ERIC P. ROSE, NPDP, MBA, Product Design and Manufacturing Expert Witness for Consumer, Medical, and Industrial products.

 Product Liability, Commercial Dispute, Patent Infringement  services provided to plaintiff and defense attorneys.

BACKGROUND: 35+ years' experience in product design, product development, product testing, and manufacturing. Product innovation part-time academic since 2009. Certified New Product Development Professional (NPDP) since 2008. Member of: PDMA, SPE, ASQ. Public Speaker since 1985.

BS Product Design, ASU College of Engineering. MBA, Pepperdine University, Named inventor on numerous patents issued and pending worldwide, https://bit.ly/2UyCa4N  

Deposed as a product design expert witness 4 times since Spring 2020 including twice in the 3M military earplug MDL. Daubert ruling at, https://bit.ly/EPR-3MEP-Daubert (Page 98). 

Expert witness services at, https://bit.ly/PDEWS 

Expert witness testimonials at, https://bit.ly/EPR-EWT

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

View Pinnacle Product Innovation's Consulting Profile.

Claire K. Sand, PhD, is a Global Packaging Technology  Leader with over 35 years of Food Science and Packaging experience. 

Dr. Sand is the owner and founder of Packaging Technology and Research, LLC.   She is also an Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University and CalPoly, and a monthly contributor to Packaging Digest. 

Dr. Sand's background includes working with Total Quality Marketing, Nestle, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, Safeway, and academia, as well as in basic research, development market research, and marketing in Germany, Colombia, and Thailand.

She is an IFT Fellow, a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement in Food Packaging Award , a member of numerous Editorial Boards, the author of the Packaging Value Chain, and is in several leadership positions.

Litigation Support - Dr. Claire Sand is an experienced food packaging expert witness for attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. Claire has served as an expert witness in 18 cases since 2016, involving 8 patents, 4 food packaging and food spoilage cases, and 6 other cases.

Her cases include Food and Beverage, Packaging and Labeling, and Patent and Intellectual Property litigation and lawsuits. Dr. Sand is available to consult, construct and write expert reports, serve as expert in depositions and testify.

Areas of Expertise:

• Patent Infringement and Invalidity - including patent infringement, patent invalidity, forensics related to patents and related lawsuits, design and utility patent infringement, food packaging patents, Patent or design infringement
• Trademark, Trade Dress or Trade Secret Disputes
• Food Package Interactions - including food damage and spoilage, food packaging safety, foods and how packaging interacts with food,
• Food Package Design - including flexible film, rigid packaging - bottles, cans jars, etc., semi-rigid packaging- foam trays, Food packaging product development, Integrity of packaged goods for warehousing
• Food Package and Packaging Forensics  - including failure analysis, defective packaging
• Material Science - including paperboard, polymers and plastics
• Probable Cause in Food Packaging Contamination
• Food Package Testing
• Food Packaging FDA Regulations & GMPs
• Food Packaging Machinery / Line Operations

View Packaging Technology Consultants' Business Consulting Profile.

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
• 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.

Leonard J. Backer has over 28 years of extensive and successful Seating, Tables and  Furniture Industry experience in all key areas. Mr. Backer has been directly involved in the design and development of 250+ seating and table collections. He specializes in Private Label Manufacturing, Sourcing, and Product Development expertise. Mr. Backer provides aggressive Expert Witness and Litigation Support services to attorneys, insurers and businesses for Plaintiff or Defense. He performs site inspections, detailed product reviews and incident analyses. He has worked with law firms and insurance companies to develop and coordinate strategies for various types of legal actions and lawsuits. Very strong hospitality background. Mr. Backer has extensive experience with hotel, restaurant, cruise ship, retail store and senior living incidents. Personal Injury and Product Liability Cases. He provides detailed analyses, written opinions, and expert witness reports for clients throughout the U.S. Strong proven deposition and court testimony. Areas of Expertise:

View Leonard Backer's Consulting Profile.

Dr. Mayer is an independent consultant and scholar that (for identification only) holds the position of Visiting Fellow in Human Flourishing,  Harvard University. He has been a full-time tenured professor with recent appoints in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, public health and medicine (psychiatry). He held various titles including, Professor (Part-time), Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Affiliated Professor, Mayo Clinic/ASU joint program in Biomedical Informatics, a member of the Research Staff at Mayo Clinic, and Professor at Arizona State University. 

Dr. Mayer continues to do research and mentor young physicians and medical students while doing a limited amount of consulting in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, observation studies and clinical trials. His consulting projects often focus on model development, execution and inferences. He is one of the few MD/PhD epidemiologists. He led a  group of 6000 physicians and epidemiologists that reviewed the science of COVID-19 

The four PhD and registered PEs at Miller Engineering are celebrating 40 years of Professorships at three universities along with providing services to Government, Insurance, and Industry—through research, publications, presentations, and expert testimony. We have a dedicated office with a full time staff of engineers, researchers, and technical writers. The span of our collective academic and experiential expertise covers well the Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Agricultural, Industrial, Human Factors, Ergonomic and Safety fields of engineering. The areas listed below are from actual projects completed in our 40 years of history. 

Mitch Jackson is a master communicator, lawyer and private mediator with over three decades of experience in the private sector. He's personally tried more than 70 trials and has a consistent track record of obtaining and negotiating numerous million-dollar verdicts and settlements, Mitch brings a massive amount of expertise to every case and matter he handles. He's served as a Judge Pro Tem with the Orange County Superior Court and fees mediator with the Orange County Bar Association.

Mitch’s accolades speak volumes: he’s an “AV” rated lawyer, the highest independent peer honor for ability and ethics by Martindale-Hubbell. He’s also been named California Litigation Lawyer of the Year in 2013 and Orange County Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2009.

When he's not in the courtroom or successfully mediating a resolution to a dispute, Mitch is on the move—traveling, speaking at conferences, and sharing insights through his blog and books. He’s written and co-written several notable works, including:

"AI in Law- Revolutionizing Your Legal Practice with Innovative Strategies and Tools" (click to read)

"Mastering The Art of Negotiation- Insider Secrets for Business Owners, Entrepreneurs, and Professionals"

"The Mediator's Handbook: Turning Conflict into Collaboration"

"From Courtroom to Boardroom: A Trial Lawyer's Guide to Winning Negotiations!"

"How to Create AI, Web3, and Metaverse Branding and Licensing Opportunities"

"The Web3, Metaverse, and AI Handbook"

"From AI to Blockchain: 14 Technology Trends Every Lawyer Must Know!"

"The Ultimate Guide to Social Media for Business Owners, Professionals, and Entrepreneurs"

Mitch’s influence extends beyond the legal field. He’s twice graced the stage at the Tony Robbins Business Mastery Event, captivating audiences of thousands. As a consulting expert in Sue Scheff’s "Shame Nation" and a contributing author to California’s Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) in "Effective Introduction of Evidence in California - Chapter 54 Electronic and Social Media Evidence," Mitch is a sought-after thought leader.

Stay connected with Mitch on Linkedin and explore more of his work at his blog mitchjackson.com

Meyer R. Rosen, FRSC, FAIC, CPC, CChE, is a leading creative consultant for the Legal Profession and specialty Chemical / Personal Care Industries. He is the Founder & President of Interactive Consulting, Inc. (www.chemicalconsult.com). 

Meyer is a Forensic Litigation expert for both plaintiff and defense in hazardous chemicals, products liability, personal injury, fires and explosions, intellectual property and trade secret cases. He also provides Technical Marketing, New Business Development, Technical Consulting and Professional Editing services internationally to the Specialty Chemical, Personal Care, Cosmetic, Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, and Allied Industries. 

Meyer also has 15 years of experience as a Professor of Fire Technology at Westchester Community College. Mr. Rosen is Editor- in- Chief of Harry’s Cosmeticology, 9th Ed. A 2,600-page trilogy on all aspects of the cosmetic industry (www.harryscosmeticology.com)’ as well as being Emeritus-Editor-in-Chief for EuroCosmetics magazine (Germany) and Editor-in-Chief of the Delivery System Handbook. 

Technology Expertise (Intellectual Property/Chemical Industry): Mr. Rosen provides consultation and litigation support in patent infringement, trade secret issues, and licensing matters. His scientific areas of expertise include, but are not limited to:

• Organosilicones: Surfactants, Emulsions, Foams, Antifoams, Silane Coupling Agents
• Water Soluble Polymers, Poly(ethylene oxide), Polyethylene Glycol, and Poly (acrylamide) and Water Insoluble Polymers
• Colloid and Surface Chemistry: Stability of Dispersions, Wetting & Spreading Phenomena, Suspensions & Emulsions, Clays, Paint & Coatings, Personal Care, Cosmetics
• Flocculating and Coagulating Agents
• Applied Rheology, Rheology Modification of Aqueous & Non-Aqueous Media

Certifications:

• Chartered Chemist and Fellow: Royal Society of Chemistry – London
• Nationally Certified Professional Chemist and Professional Chemical Engineer
• Fire and Explosion Expert (Advanced Training)
• Fellow: American College of Forensic Examiners
• Fellow: American Institute of Chemists
• Diplomate: American Board of Forensic Examiners
• Diplomate: American Board of Forensic Engineering and Technology

View Meyer Rosen'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.

Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber is President & CEO of Goldhaber Research Associates, LLC. Over the past 46 years, he has emerged as one of the nation's leading safety warning communication experts. Dr. Goldhaber has been retained in over 200 lawsuits dealing with the issue of warnings and has written numerous research articles on the subject of effective warning labels. His clients include over 100 of the top 500 corporations in the U.S. and 50 of the top 100 law firms and government agencies including the FDA, USDA, CPSC and the DOD.  He has designed, developed and defended warning labels for International Playtex, Owens Corning Fiberglas, Dr. Pepper Seven Up, Rheem, Otis Elevator, Daikin USA, S. C. Johnson, and the Swimming Pool & ATV Industries.

Dr. Goldhaber has written and edited 11 books on the topic of communication.  His 12th book, MURDER INC.: How Unregulated Industry Kills or Injures Thousands of Americans Every Year...and What You Can Do About It is now in print, was an Amazon Best Seller and named by Kirkus Reviews as one of the top one hundred non-fiction books of 2020.  For the past 14 years, he has published the Goldhaber Warnings Report, which reaches over 10,000 litigators nationwide.  He has served as an analyst for numerous radio and television shows, most recently CNN Tonight. He has been selected as a member of Who's Who in America and Who's Who in the World.

Areas of Expertise: 

Product Liability and Personal Injury

Warning Label Research

Warnings and Safety Communications

Radhakrishnaiah Parachuru is a Textile Engineer with BS, MS and PhD degrees in Textile Engineering & MS degree in Applied Statistics. A multidisciplinary scientist, Dr. Parachuru possesses more than 35 years of teaching, research, and industrial experience in Polymer, Fiber, Textile, Apparel, Carpet, and other related disciplines. 

Serving as the coordinator of industry and public support activities at Georgia Tech, Dr. Parachuru has completed more than 180 applied research projects for the benefit of all segments of the Textile and Allied industries. Projects completed fall in the following categories:

• Product / Process Optimization
• Testing and Evaluation of all Types of Fiber Products Including Woven & Knitted Fabrics, Nonwovens, Carpets, and Technical Textilles
• Flammability Testing of Fabrics, Garments, Carpets and Nonwovens
• Application of Advances in the Materials Field, Especially Advances in Nano and Bio Materials for the Advancement of Fiber Product Industry
• Application of Performance Finishes to Fiber Products Through Wet Treatments
• Technical Trouble Shooting in Spinning, Weaving, Knitting, Dyeing, Printing and Textile Finishing Processes
• Design and Evaluation of New Fiber Products for Application in Medical, Construction, Transportation, etc. Sectors
• Assistance for Product Diversification
• Establishment of Quality Control Facilities and QC Routines

Dr. Parachuru has also conducted basic research in the area of Textile Manufacturing and served as the main advisor of several graduate students at Georgia Tech. He has been an active member of Fiber Society, AATCC, ASTM and TQCA. Dr. Parachuru currently serves as an active member of several AATCC technical committees and also as chairman of the AATCC committee on statistics. His current research interests are in the area of medical and industrial textiles. 

Consultation Services - Dr. Parachuru offers technical consultation to manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers. His services cover the entire spectrum of the fiber product industry. 

Litigation Support - Dr. Parachuru has been qualified as a Fiber / Textile Expert after appearing as an expert in more than Forty court cases. His experience covers federal, state, and county courts in multiple states within the United States.

Areas of Expertise:

Dr. Kevin A. Rider, PhD, PE, CPE of Forensic Human Factors, LLC., providing investigations and expert testimony regarding predictable human behavior, particularly as it relates to motor vehicle and pedestrian collisions, premises liability, and slips, trips and falls, the design and use of products, and adequacy of warnings/instructions. His work focuses on identifying the Human Factors Elements that lead to unfortunate incidents, and what should have been done to prevent them. 

Dr. Rider is a Licensed Professional Engineer and Certified Professional Ergonomist, and has studied human movements and behavior, and served as a human factors consultant since 1999, including five years teaching industrial engineering and occupational safety courses at West Virginia University. He has presented at professional conferences, both nationally and abroad, and his research is published and cited in a number of peer-reviewed journals. He continues to serve as a reviewer for conference and journal manuscripts. 

Dr. Rider has testified over 100 times, and excels at educating attorneys and jurors. His services are available to attorneys for both Plaintiff and Defense. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Driver Behavior - Cell Phone Use and other In-Vehicle Distractions
• Product Liability - Design, Guards, Warnings, Adequacy of Instructions
• Premises Liability - Sidewalks, Shopping Centers, Community Parks, Retail Displays
• Slips, Trips, and Falls
• Visibility and Lighting - Illumination and Conspicuity of Objects
• Workplace Safety - Defective Products, Gross Negligence or Misconduct, Third Party Actions on Worksites
• Machine Guarding 

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Khalid Sorensen, PhD, is a highly accomplished technology leader in Automation, Mechatronics, Motion Control, Manufacturing, Machine Vision, and Human-Machine Interaction. He has over 20 years of experience developing and deploying world-class mechatronic, motion control, and automation solutions.

Dr. Sorensen has directed the development and implementation of 100s of complex, multi-disciplinary mechatronic systems for high-profile industry leaders including Toyota, Ford, Alcoa, Caterpillar, Boeing, NuScale, and many others, and high-profile facilities including Fukushima and Chernobyl.

Litigation Support - Dr. Sorensen has testified in numerous Product Liability and IP disputes – both at the Federal and District court levels, as well as the ITC, USPTO, and US Customs and Border Protection.

Areas of Expertise:

Career Highlights:

• Founded a technology company where he invented and was the Chief Architect of Expertoperator^TM, Safemove^TM, Automove^TM, and Cranevision^TM – technology known within the primary metals, automotive, and heavy-equipment sectors for enhancing crane safety, productivity, and ease-of-use; Developed state-of-the-art, on-line, time-optimal trajectory synthesis software for Cartesian machines - key drivers in the acquisition of his company 5 years after inception by a global leader in automation.
• Served as CTO at PaR Systems, a world-class supplier of large-scale robotic automation, control, advanced manufacturing, and nuclear-handling solutions.
• Founded Finity Engineering, which provides design, analysis, consulting, and litigation support services in the areas of robotics, automation, and mechatronics.
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Teaches various engineering topics including Dynamics, Controls, Vibrations, Mechatronics, the Design Process, Product Development, Engineering IP, Product Liability, and others.
• Invited talks at premiere institutions globally including MIT, Kumoh National Univ. of Tech, Korea Atomic Energy Research Inst., Hyung Hee Univ., Huazhong Univ. of Science & Tech.

View Finity Engineering's Business Consulting Profile.