Category: Articles, Engineering, Manufacturing, Product Liability, Resources for Attorneys, Safety Are You Selecting the “Right” Expert for Your Product Liability Case? TASA ID: 12079 One of the most important decisions to be made by counsel in any litigation is which expert or experts to retain. A primary consideration in this decision is to determine whether there are any potential specialties or sub-specialties involved that are of importance to your case. For instance, in a product liability case involving a consumer appliance, an expert who has had experience in the design and manufacture of similar appliances might be a more appropriate candidate as an expert than one who has not been so involved with these products or processes. Read more
Category: Articles, Life Care Plan, Medical & Healthcare, Resources for Attorneys Standard of Care vs. Technical Deficiency TASA ID: 864 When working for the defense as an expert witness, I have developed a strategy for dealing with wrongful death and personal injury issues. Most of my work relates to matters involving health and human service programs. In these cases, Standard of Care and the organization's operational flaws usually play a significant role. Read more
Category: Articles, Business & Commerce, Communications, Employment, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts REPUTATION DAMAGE EMANATES FROM ACTIONS AS WELL AS WORDS “It takes years to build a reputation but only minutes to have it destroyed.” TASA ID: 2156 For someone who has served as an expert witness in approximately three dozen defamation cases, there is little question that negative communications disseminated in writing (libel) or verbally (slander) or both can be devastating to the image, reputation and/or good will of an individual, business, institution, public sector entity, or any other type of recipient targeted. Defamation is normally defined as a false statement, published to a third party, that is damaging and is meant to harm and results from negligence, reckless disregard for the truth or malice. Read more
Category: Articles, Business & Commerce, Communications, Employment, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts What Covid-19 Has Taught Us About Leading Through a Crisis TASA ID: 1056 Leading always has challenges! However, we have never had to lead through a crisis like Covid-19. The past three months have brought challenges like no other. During a time of crisis, leaders are required to lead and manage effectively. Managing the urgent needs of the present and taking decisive actions. Strong leaders guide people to the best possible eventual outcomes, which demand seeing beyond the present in order to anticipate obstacles ahead. Read more
Category: Articles, Chemicals / Toxic Substances, Construction, Environment, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts, Safety OIL & GAS PIPELINE ACCIDENTS: Failure Mechanisms in Non-Technical Language TASA ID: 18867 Oil and gas pipeline construction in the U.S. has grown steadily over the years at a rate of approximately 10,000 miles per year. As of 2019, more than 2.6 million miles of natural gas and 219,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines were operating in the United States.The U.S. Department of Transportation’s PHMSA agency began tracking serious accidents in 2000. The latest failure rates reported by PHMSA show 0.01 failures per 1000 miles for hazardous liquid pipelines, 11 failures per 1,000,000 miles for gas distribution pipelines, and 0.008 failures per 1000 miles of gas transmission pipelines. Despite such low probabilities of failure, accidents do occur often making news due to the spectacular way they fail and the likelihood of deaths and injuries. Read more