In the early 2000s , I received a telephone call from one of the nation’s leading eminent domain attorneys. It was a call that arborists only dream of getting, a call that started my fierce defense of Article 5 of the Bill of Rights. A call that spurred me to have my career revolve around […]
Category: Legal
Failed Tree Liability
July 11, 2019Is the Whole Always the Sum of its Parts? The “Green Industry” is governed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI A300). The Standards consist of 10 Parts that cover the various categories of work and provide for certain standards in the writing of specifications and performance. This of course affects where liability lies for […]
The Interview: It’s the Same But Different.
June 17, 2019The most published work on LinkedIn may be the topic of the dreaded job interview, followed quickly by how to write a résumé. Thousands of professionals comment on this topic, and LI has some very smart and credentialed masters who know what advice to give to real-life questions. However, there is another type of job […]
Permission to Approach the Witness
May 13, 2019The direct examination went rather well considering that most people expect the retaining attorney to be a great orator worthy of Cicero accolades when, in fact, they might have little experience or expertise in oral presentations at trial. The exchange between me, as the expert tree witness, and my retaining attorney was not over-rehearsed and […]
The Expert Witness on a Litigation Team
April 22, 2019One of the most important components of an attorney’s litigation team is the expert witness. An attorney going into a court without the best expert is like a solider going to battle without a rifle. And so it came to pass in a federal courthouse some time ago that a black limousine pulled up in […]
Death, Injury, & Property Damage from Trees
March 29, 2019During February, I received four requests from different insurance companies to render an opinion on the unfortunate outcome of trees falling on people and onto property causing property damage. One death, one personal injury, and two homes with extensive damage. One month. Trees can be and are dangerous. That danger grows exponentially when the subject […]
Fat Cats and Honesty: An Expert Witness Needs to Tell the Truth
February 25, 2019One commodity weighs heaviest among all professionals: the truth. Nothing separates success in the professional marketplace and private relationships quite like the truth. Synonymous with honor, integrity, and character, the truth and a reputation for telling it (especially as an expert witness) are priceless, except when the truth interferes with a constructed reality based on […]
Signs, Signs: There are Signs Everywhere!
January 26, 2019Have you noticed that signs are everywhere on our highways? But there are rules and laws that govern most, if not all, of them. In this matter, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association (FOAA), and Citizens for a Scenic Florida (Citizens) were caught in a quagmire of legal lawsuits regarding […]
The Cart Before the Horse
January 3, 2019This insurance claim came from an insured in a metropolitan city. A construction company installing a new sidewalk accidentally (is it ever any other way?) hit the limb of a 17-inch-diameter tree growing in the cutout of the sidewalk. The limb tore and broke off. The guardian angel for trees in the city inspected the damage […]
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.