Do you need clarification on the laws surrounding fallen tree removal? If so, here are some things you need to know. First and foremost, it depends. Is the subject tree on your neighbor’s property? Did it fail in a significant storm? Was it a dead tree? Was the tree growing on private land, or was […]
Tag: insurance claims
Acts of God and Other Silly Notions of Trees
May 3, 2022Adjusting Insurance Claims Acts of God: If 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 […]
If a Tree Fell in the Woods …
April 12, 2022If a tree fell in the woods, would an insurance agent hear it? It 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. […]
Dead Trees Do Talk
November 2, 2020Dead 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 […]
Who’s Cheating Their Insurance Company?
November 25, 2019Who’s cheating their insurance company? There are abuses on both sides of the insurance cheating issue. There are high-profile attorneys with great expertise in detecting fraud. These attorneys regularly post on LinkedIn verdicts that they received from a jury, verdicts that far exceeded the original claim in many instances. There are insurance companies whose attorneys […]
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 […]
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 […]
Ten Commandments (Recommendations) of Settling Tree Claims
November 26, 2018Across 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. […]