ARTICLES

11/8/2013· Banking

Bank Directors: Walking a Fine Line between Customer Service & Corporate Governance

By: Catherine Ghiglieri

Directors in community banks are usually picked for two reasons: their expertise and their ability to bring business into the bank. Upon taking their places at the board tables, however, directors immediately learn that while bringing business into their bank is a laudable goal, they also have to ensure that their bank operates in a safe and sound manner. Directors, thus, walk a fine line between these two goals.

11/7/2013· Transportation

Making More Money: Part 9: The Conference Motortel

By: Ned Einstein

Supply and Demand: When it comes down to it, the ultimate dynamics of survival in life on Earth. More poetically, 70's pop artist icon James Taylor crooned, "You provide the satisfy, and I'll provide the need." So here we go on another jaunt to expand the scenarios for motorcoach usage. However, along the road, we are actually inventing a brand new mode - not that no one has necessarily tried this particular one before.

11/5/2013· Animals

Tail Docking in Dogs: Historical Precedence and Modern Views

By: Jill Kessler Miller

Tail docking (amputation of the tail) has been done on dogs for hundreds of years. A variety of justifications have been offered, usually in accordance to the historical tasks of the breed. For instance, in hunting dogs, conventional wisdom said it was to prevent injury in the field from nettles, burrs or sticks; in herding or bull-baiting dogs it was thought to help avoid injury from large livestock.

10/31/2013· Economics

Inflation and the Middle Class - 2011 Onwards

By: Dr. Kenneth E. Lehrer

A person does not have to be too old to truly remember the times (mid 1960's and early 1970's) when gas stations gave away trinkets, toys, glasses, tableware and even "Green Stamps" that could be redeemed for valuable "merchandise" when you purchased a few extra gallons of gasoline. How eager the major gasoline companies were to stimulate sales, create demand and obtain their growing share of middle class consumer dollars.

10/29/2013· Police Practices & Procedures

The Weakest Link: The Dire Consequences of a Weak Link in the Informant Handling and Covert Operations Chain-of-Command

By: Michael Levine

Law enforcement agencies call them CIs (Cooperating Individuals, Confidential Informants, and/or Criminal Informants). Cops who use them call them stoolpigeons, stools, rats, chotas, etc. Intelligence agencies (Central Intelligence Agency [CIA], Defense Intelligence Agency [DIA], etc.) call them "assets" or the more confusing "agents."

10/25/2013· Healthcare Facilities - Hospitals

A Better Response to Clinical Errors

By: Paul B. Hofmann, DrPH, FACHE

In 1989, I agreed for the first time to serve as an expert witness in a case brought by the family of a terminally ill pregnant patient who had a cesarean section performed against her will in a prominent university teaching hospital. Since then, whether retained as a plaintiff or defense expert, I have been surprised and disturbed by the number and types of cases in which hospitals and other health care facilities have been sued.

10/24/2013· Digital Forensics

Imaging Forensics: Countering Bad Science

By: George Reis

When attorneys get a copy of opposing counsel's expert reports, sometimes they are quite surprised by what they read - it's just bad science. And, in these cases they will then retain their own expert to counter, and possibly quash, the other experts opinion. I've been retained in numerous cases to do this, and I'll discuss four to illustrate the benefit this has, and to help illustrate the kind of work that I do.

10/17/2013· Warnings & Labels

Synthetic Drug Retailers Sued By New York A.G. For Failure to Warn

By: Dr. Gerald M. Goldhaber

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed 12 civil lawsuits on July 10,2012 throughout New York State against 16 head shops that sold synthetic drugs which were marketed as different products such as glass cleaner, potpourri, bath salts and spice. The main claim in these lawsuits is that the products violate consumer protection laws for labeling by failing to warn consumers of the products' content, safety and health risks.

10/15/2013· Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

Forensic Clues: All-Terrain Vehicles

By: John Ryan, BSME, PE

Between 1982 and 1996, 2,795 people died riding all-terrain vehicles, ATV's. This was found in a study by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Over thirty percent of the riders killed were under the age of sixteen.

10/14/2013· Elevators - Escalator - Automatic Doors

Automatic Doors Maintenance: The Importance of Checking Your Doors Daily

By: Michael Panish

I have been involved in many automatic door cases during the past few years working for both plaintiff and defense. As discussed in one of my previous articles (The Ins and Outs of Automatic Door Operation), automatic doors are highly complex pieces of equipment that require daily attention. Most injuries occur when some component of the automatic door system malfunctions.