Asset, Property and Portfolio Management, Commercial Litigation, Development and Redevelopment, Insurance, and Realtor fiduciary matters.

An accomplished scholar, Dr. Bridy is a graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a B.Sc. in Economics. His graduate studies garnered academic honors recognition from the San Diego State University Graduate School of Business, the Marshall School at the University of Southern California, and the University of Phoenix, from which he received an MBA, EMBA, and Ph.D. respectively. For decades, Dr. Bridy has served on the boards of many prominent real estate organizations, including the National Association of Realtors, California Association of Realtors, San Diego County Commercial Association of Realtors, and CCIM.

Dr. Bridy and his team entitled and built two shopping centers and five single tenant properties. In addition, Dick has contracted for the redevelopment of over 3.5 million square feet of gross leasable area (GLA) in 14 shopping centers in the Midwest and the Western US. He has served as a commercial real estate legal consultant in cases including asset, property and portfolio management, commercial litigation, development/redevelopment, insurance, and realtor litigation.

The key in presenting expert testimony is to identify problems before they become major disasters. Problem-finding requires intellectual curiosity, where one is never satisfied with understanding a topic no matter how much expertise and experience one has accumulated on the subject. Intellectual curiosity requires the instinct to explore puzzling questions that may challenge the conventional wisdom.

Expert testimony is founded on systemic thinking. In some cases, the apparent negligence or misconduct of an individual is an indicator of broader systemic issues in the organization. Effective expert witnesses do not rush to find fault and assign blame when they are presented with a claim. They step back and question why that error occurred and whether more fundamental organizational problems have created the condition. Effective expert witnesses identify the underlying systemic issues versus finding a scapegoat.

In a jury trial, the judge is not the one that makes the ultimate decision; it is the jury. The twelve lay people are not lawyers, experts, or real estate professions. However, many are pretty savvy and intelligent. The key is to appeal to the collective wisdom of the jury. A skilled expert witness distills the information into testimony with a skill to explain the matter in a fashion that can be understood by the jury. An expert can never “talking down” to anyone, communication must be in layman terms.

The key to effective cross-examination is, to be honest and truthful, produce a high-quality job, establish a strict protocol, follow a set procedure, effect high-quality work, submit professionally written reports, hire 3rd party proofreading, with all submissions approved by retained counsel. The expert must be one that values confrontation and stands by his or her convictions. The foregoing procedure has a track record of surviving and thriving during cross-examination.