Why does a tree fall? After the hustle and bustle of determining legal positioning in a wrongful death or personal injury matter regarding tree failures, this question inevitably comes up. Could the failure have been predicted within a reasonable amount of certainty before the incident occurred? Were the defects open and obvious? Were the defects […]
Category: Insurance
Insurance Claims and Trends
June 30, 2021Perhaps it is just me, but there seems to be a greater number of claims without merit occurring than typically is seen in the marketplace. You know, the claimant is being what appears to be less than honest. I have noted a substantial uptick in claims like this recently. As many claims agents already are […]
Insurance Claims for My Review
April 26, 2021I 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 […]
Trees and Neighbors
January 31, 2021When 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 […]
Species Profiling
January 7, 2021We 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 […]
Of Watermelons and Eminent Domain Takings
December 1, 2020This 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 […]
Desktop Review: Gretchen Gallo and Bad Neighbors
November 10, 2020Desktop 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 […]
Tree Preservation: Different Things to Different People
July 27, 2020Tree 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 […]
Taking the Mystery Out of Tree and Landscape Claims
March 26, 2020Taking the mystery out of tree and landscape claims can be difficult! If you have had a tree or landscape claim come across your desk, you know the empty feeling associated with wondering just how the matter will be resolved. If only it were a car or a home, life would be so much easier. […]
A Misunderstood Common Law Privilege
March 5, 2020There is a misunderstood common law privilege that permits a landowner to cut encroaching tree and plant parts extending onto and into his property from a neighbor’s property. However, that action does not extend to conduct causing damage to the neighboring property. There is a privilege, but it is not absolute. The privilege is not […]