September 2008 Archives

Hiring the right construction engineering expert witness will provide proof and testimony in court to support your case.  In Tips For Selecting The Right Expert Witness Service (Skynewswire.com), Rosie Fletcher writes:

"Living in a litigious society has made many of us think of court settlement as our first rather than the last resort. Whenever a problem arises and ends up in a dispute, most of us prefer to have our dispute legally settled.

Thus, there's always a chance that youll need the services of an expert witness at some point in your life. Hiring an expert witness can solidify your case against the other party; if you hire the right expert witness service, the company will able to provide more than adequate proof and reliable testimony in court to support your claim.

Even if you don't need to hire the right expert witness service now, you could need one later so its better to be prepared in advance. The expect witness service you'll avail of must meet the following criteria:

1. Adequate Courtship Experience
You can't hire a novice to act as your expert witness. Court room battles are vicious and if the expert witness doesnt have any experience in providing testimonies, his claims will be shredded to bits even if he's telling the truth. An experienced expert witness knows on the other hand how to handle himself in court and modify his behavior and speech depending on the type of lawyer or judge whos questioning him. An experienced expert witness knows when to act calm or passionate and above all, how to be utterly convincing.

2. Proficiency in Report Making

Expert witnesses are almost always required to submit detailed reports about their findings. If an expert witness doesn't have excellent writing skills and adequate experience in creating reports, he will once more be subject to more abuse from the other party's legal counsel. Facts can easily be overturned if they are not stated convincingly. Ask for samples of your expert witness reports to visualize how he can help win your case."

Current law provides an alternative process for purchasers and contractors or sellers to resolve issues related to the design, construction, condition or sale of a dwelling prior to filing a lawsuit. Proposition 201 makes mandatory changes to the legal procedures for any purchaser dwelling action and for the time to sue on any improvements for real property:

4. After receiving notice of alleged defects, the measure would require rather than allow the seller to conduct an inspection of the dwelling to determine the cause of the alleged defects and what repairs or replacements would be necessary, if any, to remedy the alleged defects.

5. The seller would be required to send the purchaser a written response within 30 days, instead of 60 days, after receiving a notice from the purchaser of the purchaser's intent to file a court action against the seller. If an offer to repair or replace any alleged defects includes an offer of compensation, the purchaser would be given the sole power to choose compensation instead of repair or replacement.

6. A seller would be required to hire a qualified licensed contractor to complete any and all repairs to the dwelling. In order for the licensed contractor to be qualified, the registrar of contractors could not have had an order against the licensed contractor in the preceding 10 years.

Current law provides an alternative process for purchasers and contractors or sellers to resolve issues related to the design, construction, condition or sale of a dwelling prior to filing a lawsuit. Proposition 201 makes mandatory changes to the legal procedures for any purchaser dwelling action and for the time to sue on any improvements for real property:

1. Expands existing law to grant "prospective buyers" the rights to sue over a dwelling action.

2. Prohibits sellers or purchasers from agreeing to or allowing any "reasonable alternative dispute resolution" procedures in sales contracts.

3. A purchaser would be required to give 60 days' notice, instead of 90 days, to a seller about the alleged defects before filing a court action against the seller. The notice must currently contain a "detailed and itemized" list of alleged defects. Proposition 201 replaces that standard with a requirement that the notice contain a description in "ordinary, nontechnical terms" of defects that a purchaser of "average experience" would be expected to observe.

Many times the owner issues the plans for bid, or construction, when they are not complete, correct or coordinated. This is usually based on the owner's need to start the project within a certain time constraint, either for fiscal or political reasons. The owner has a right to issue drawings which are incomplete or to request scope changes during the project. However, the owner also has the obligation to pay for such changes.

Stay Away From Short Suv's
Sport-Utility vehicles are particularly popular these days, and are generally safer than small cars. The SUV's with the worst safety record are those with a wheel-base less than 105 inches. These vehicles tend to have inferior handling characteristics, and are more likely to overturn in an accident. Most SUVs have a high center of gravity, and can overturn in emergency handling maneuvers, especially when fully loaded with passengers and cargo. Rollover accidents are particularly dangerous, and account for a disproportionate share of fatalities. In general, larger and heavier vehicles offer greater protection to occupants in a collision, and higher quality vehicles tend to have better seats, seatbelts and head-rests. All new cars and light trucks now come equipped with air bags, but your primary protection in the event of a collision is your seat belt.

We have all learned that the three most important aspects of real estate are Location, Location, Location! In construction, the three most important aspects to successful resolution of issues are Documentation, Documentation, Documentation!

We were recently asked about methods for minimizing construction claims. The project managers were all ears when told that we have discovered a method that would guarantee no claims on their next project. Our “No Claims” method simply requires:

1. Supplying contract documents that are perfectly complete, correct and coordinated at bid time.
2. Making NO changes to the project after the contract documents are issued.
3. The Contractor and all the Subcontractor’s work diligently and make no mistakes.

Do Not Depend On Air Bags To Prevent Injury
You may be surprised to know that although air bags help to prevent some fatalities and serious injuries in frontal collisions, seat belts offer far greater protection and are effective in many more types of accidents. Please use them and teach your children to buckle up whenever they get into a vehicle. In studying the effectiveness of seat belts and air bags, the U.S. Department of Transportation has concluded that using a manual lap and shoulder belt is the most effective measure you can use to avoid serious injury in a collision. Your air bags do not reduce the risk of serious injury if you are wearing your seat belts, but air bags reduce the risk of fatalities, even for belted occupants.

How do they work? In the following example, the best bid price received from a qualified general contractor for a major renovation is $2.5 million. The owner's budget is $2.2 million, but modifications and changes are anticipated for an additional $500,000 estimated construction costs. Time is of the essence. The project must start immediately. The owner wishes to cut $300,000 from the base contract without changing the scope of work and at the same time control cost of the additions without giving away the $500,000. The contractor already dropped his price on the first round of negotiations and won't budge off his $2.5 million. This project is an ideal candidate for G-Max conversion.

Guaranteed Maximum Contracts or G-Max are becoming more popular as a corporate vehicle to control cost and integrate the diverse interests of a complex project. Not to be confused with cost plus, the G-Max contract is bid exactly the same as lump sum. The contractor assumes the same risk, with a big stipulation: he's willing to share in the savings on the basis of the owner's guarantee of fee and prompt payment of net cost. There's no difference in cost or risk between Lump Sum and Guaranteed Max, but a big difference in results, particularly on the owner's side of the fence. Don't let anyone tell you that G-Max cost more. They don't! In fact, Lump Sum contracts are sometimes converted to G-Max for the same price or less.

Large Vs. Small
Whether purchasing a new or used vehicle, safety should be considered along with utility, comfort, price and style. After the use or non-use of seat belts, the single most important factor in determining your chance of getting killed or seriously injured in an accident is your vehicle's weight. In fact, an extra 300 pounds of vehicle weight improves your chances of survival as much as an air bag. Try to avoid smaller vehicles, especially those weighing less than 3,000 pounds. This choice will cost more at the gas pump and might offend your sense of environmental responsibility, but it could save your life. There are some exceptions, and you can get detailed information on crash performance from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - www.iihs.org.

Neither law nor real estate appraisal has thoroughly clarified the different damage valuation methodologies that are applicable under tort law, condemnation law, regulatory takings law, and inverse condemnation law in various political jurisdictions. Real estate appraisal generally relies on three cardinal valuation methods: the Cost, Sales Comparison, and Income Approaches. This article shows that there are three methods of damage valuation that generally comport with the three conventional methods of valuation.

The three conventional valuation methodologies have been incorporated into damage law under different terminology and computation formats. Two rules predominate and have mostly been applied to damage situations involving use of eminent domain powers by public entities:
Existing Nomenclature for Damage Valuation Rules:
* The Federal Rule or Before and After Rule (Comparison Approach)
* The State Rule or Value of the Take Plus Damages Rule (Cost Approach)

More to follow from ForensisGroup experts Wayne C. Lusvardi and Charles Warren.