If you are a Community Association Manager (CAM) or someone charged with the responsibility of managing landscapes, you have a rough and rugged road upon which to travel. And tradition informs us that many have lost their way; few have become independently wealthy and most dread the subject of landscape maintenance. This is especially true […]
Blog
A FAREWELL TO MAGGIE: FAT CATS AND BUSBOY BUCKETS
October 1, 2018When the phone rings after midnight, it is typically bad news. This phone call was no exception. I was driving with a million other people along an interstate trying to beat hurricane Florence to the punch and return home prior to her landfall. Had I heard that Maggie died? My senses were immediately […]
Mrs. Stanford’s Pecan Pie
September 24, 2018And, sure enough, in the backseat of my truck, lying on the floor, covered in a red-and-white checkerboard cloth, was one of Mrs. Stanford’s award-winning blue-ribbon pecan pies.
Dead Trees DO Talk
September 5, 201811:30 p.m. Had you been there on the wooded hill illuminated by the full moon, you would have definitely heard the noise. But you probably would never, ever have imagined its source. Something like a muffled groan but intuitively not human. Time would pass and you would have filed the origination of the sound back into […]
Consider the Evidence from All Sides Before Passing Judgement on the Claimant’s Validity
August 29, 2018Joe Samnik, Consulting Forensic Arborist If I’m going to be honest with myself, I must admit that one of the components associated with my mental Rolodex boils down to these questions: Does this claim have merit? Is the claimant being honest and straightforward with regard to his claim? One of the things that piqued my […]
Acts of God and Other Silly Notions of Trees
August 15, 2018If you are in the business of adjusting insurance claims, you have no doubt heard this scenario numerous times: “There was this incredible wind out of nowhere, and the next thing I knew my huge tree fell through my roof.” Another often repeated theme goes like this: “It must’ve been a bolt of lightning! It […]
Ethics, “White Lies,” and a Red Dress
August 5, 2018My bride and I are ethicists. Our upbringing in formative years and our professions hold us tightly to the matter of ethics. It’s an extremely boring subject, especially if one sits in an auditorium for a one-hour presentation and resultant CEUs.
If a Tree Fell in the Woods, Would an Insurance Agent Hear It?
July 30, 2018It is an amazing phenomenon to observe from afar. Extremely intelligent and well-versed insurance professionals handling claims become immobile when a tree or landscape issue comes before them. Their eyes glaze over. Their right hand goes to their chin. Their eyebrows rise. They ponder, what to do? Given that the tree or landscape did not […]
Age Discrimination in the Marketplace
July 17, 2018I am the luckiest man in the marketplace. The older I get, the more I am perceived as being better at my niche in the marketplace, better than somebody younger than I. I have noted much discussion and many articles regarding age discrimination in the workplace. While paraphrasing, it seems the mantra of the older applicant or job […]
What I have learned as an expert witness in over 800 litigation assignments
July 15, 2018I have had the good fortune of being named as an expert witness in over 800 litigation matters. I have been qualified in federal, civil, criminal, small claims and eminent domain courts of law. I have testified to tree values, wrongful deaths, personal injuries, eminent domain and product liability. My representation is nearly 50/50 plaintiff vs. defendant. I […]