Insurance Claims for My Review

April 26, 2021

I am most fortunate as an arborist to accept a large number of insurance claims for my review and comment. Sometimes I find myself across from the insurance companies. In this matter, an insurance company had refused a claim for approximately $88,000. An 18-wheeler had crossed the road and destroyed the front rows of a […]

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Rules for Working the Streets

February 6, 2021

Did you know there are rules for working the streets? There are very few things we are good at doing. We may well list a long litany of our areas of expertise, but we must always remember that true expertise is knowing more and more about less and less. And so it came to pass […]

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Trees and Neighbors

January 31, 2021

When talking about trees and neighbors, most diligent arborists are aware of what self-help means. Self-help is the only available option when managing an uncooperative neighbor whose tree is encroaching onto or into an adjoining property owner’s land. Of course, it is incumbent upon each of us to attempt a mutual agreement between two neighbors […]

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Species Profiling

January 7, 2021

We are all aware that racial profiling ranks high in news and in social awareness but can species profiling be an issue with arboriculture and the courts? This question came to bear in a recent insurance company assignment I had regarding the failure of a Water oak (Quercus nigra) when a part of the subject […]

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A Claim for Damaged Trees

December 30, 2020

A claim for damaged trees came to my client, an insurance company. The claimant was seeking restoration for two trees with a diameter of 12 and 16 inches, respectively. The claimant sought the help of a nurseryman and certified arborist. The proposal was for 14 2” replacement trees to total the casualty diameter measurements of […]

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Of Watermelons and Eminent Domain Takings

December 1, 2020

This assignment concerns a mediation conducted in an eminent domain matter.  You know, that area of our laws that is so important to the constitution that 12 members of the jury are seated, just as in a capital offense like death. In this matter, a tree farm and plant nursery were condemned to make way […]

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Desktop Review: Landscape Architects Beware

November 17, 2020

Landscape Architects Beware: An attorney defending a landscape installer for breach of contract asked for my review of the matter. Mediation was three weeks away. The allegation was that the plant material installed in a new commercial project did not rise to the level of acceptance or marketability. That allegation was spot on. The attorney […]

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Desktop Review: Gretchen Gallo and Bad Neighbors

November 10, 2020

Desktop Review: Gretchen Gallo and Bad Neighbors This desktop review came from the legal department of an insurance company. The matter was rooted in the claimant whose driveway and swimming pool were being damaged by the roots of a neighbor’s oak tree. Serious damages … think six figures. The neighbor did, in fact, own the […]

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Dead Trees Do Talk

November 2, 2020

Dead trees do talk. A birthday milestone for many girls is Sweet Sixteen. And so it was for the girl making her way home from a shopping trip with her father. Having just called her girlfriend to chat about the evening’s plans, she had approximately 45 seconds left to live. Ahead on the interstate, growing […]

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Tree Preservation: Different Things to Different People

July 27, 2020

Tree preservation: Different things to different people. If you are a builder or a developer, tree preservation pretty much equates to not knocking the tree down during development. If you are a homeowner, then tree preservation takes on a more feng shui application. The utility of doing it well, doing what’s right, and doing it […]

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