Creeping Normalcy

December 11, 2018

This matter came to me as an insured was named a defendant in a multi-million dollar personal injury claim. The matter regarded a landscape installer who allegedly failed to properly secure a newly installed tree in a new landscape. The tree failed during a significant weather event at a theme park. The theme park was […]

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Ten Commandments (Recommendations) of Settling Tree Claims

November 26, 2018

Across my desk came the assignment for the insured claim of irreparably damaging a protected tree during construction. It seems as though the construction personnel, shall we say, drifted across the tree barricades and smacked a protected tree but good. The government arborist cited code violations and a six-figure number for mitigation. There were pictures. […]

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CAMs – Beware Mount Mulch-More

October 23, 2018

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 […]

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A FAREWELL TO MAGGIE: FAT CATS AND BUSBOY BUCKETS

October 1, 2018

  When 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 […]

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Mrs. Stanford’s Pecan Pie

September 24, 2018

And, 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.

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Ethics, “White Lies,” and a Red Dress

August 5, 2018

My 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.

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Age Discrimination in the Marketplace

July 17, 2018

I 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 […]

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What I have learned as an expert witness in over 800 litigation assignments

July 15, 2018

I 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 […]

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