Food Service Design Expert Witnesses

David Rutecki's career spans 39 years of Restaurant and Hospitality related experience. Working in more than 20 restaurants and involved in the opening of more than a dozen, he has worked every position possible within this industry. Mr. Rutecki currently owns and operates Mountain Deli in Hendersonville, garnering the 2016, 2017 & 2018 Blue Ridge Growth Award. He is a Member of the North Carolina and National Restaurant Associations. Mr. Rutecki has been invloved in the following selected restaurants:

• Fancy’s Food and Wine, Gourmet Shop, Coral Gables, South Miami & Grove Isle, Fl.
• Susie’s Bagels, Breakfast Restaurant, South Miami, Fl.
• Pizzaria Uno, Full Service Restaurant, Miami, Fl.
• Baystreet, Full Service Seafood Restaurant, Miami, Fl.
• Rusty Pelican, Upscale Seafood, Key Biscayne, Miami, Fl.
• Rudolph's BBQ, Upscale BBQ, Miami, Fl.
• Signature Gardens, Upscale Catering Hall, Miami, Fl.
• Chart House, Upscale Seafood, Coconut grove, Fl.
• Cafe Tu Tu Tango, Coconut Grove, Fl.
• Gatsby’s, Upscale Billiards and Cigar Bar, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Prezzo, Casual Italian, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Maxwell’s Chophouse, Upscale Steakhouse, Boca Raton, Fl.
• Mountain Deli, Delicatessen, Downtown Hendersonville, NC
• Tabica Grill, Upscale American, Jupiter, Fl.
• Jonathon's Landing Marina Club, Upscale Boating Club, Jupiter, Fl
• Jetty's, Upscale Seafood, Jupiter, Fl.
• Austin Grill, Casual, Washington, DC.

Litigation Support - David Rutecki offers expert witness and litigation support for restaurant related issues in the United States. His services are available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defendant. Areas of Expertise:

• Restaurant and Kitchen Design, Menu Development
• Food Safety and Sanitation
• Bar Operations & Liquor Liability... Dram Shop
• Safety & Security - Slips, Trips and Falls
• Daily Operations & Management, Employee & Staffing Issues
• Retail Operations
• Staff & Mgmt Training Programs & Handbooks
• Business Plan Development

Gary R. Coburn is an award-winning restaurant executive, operator, consultant, and expert witness with over 45 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry. His background includes service as an owner, operator, franchisor, consultant, President, Chief Operating Officer, General Manager, Executive Director of Food Services, and VP of National Accounts & Design Build.

Mr. Coburn has helped create, open, operate, reposition, and advise hundreds of restaurant, bar, hospitality, and foodservice concepts throughout the United States. His experience includes restaurant operations, staffing and training systems, operational safety, franchising, commercial kitchen design/build, concept development, business viability, and restaurant-related disputes.

He remains actively involved in restaurant operations and concept development through Restaurant Concept Innovations and current projects including Lily’s Donuts & Pops and Lily’s Donuts & Coffee in Santa Barbara.

Mr. Coburn maintains an active expert witness practice involving restaurant and hospitality operations, premises safety, slip/trip/fall incidents, burns and hot beverage incidents, staffing and training, alcohol awareness, business interruption, restaurant concept viability, and hospitality industry standards. His engagements include over 70 cases across 14 states with matters historically remaining relatively balanced between plaintiff and defense.

Services available to counsel include site inspections, operational analysis, reporting, depositions, mediation support, and trial testimony.

Recent cases retained by Plaintiff:

Mr. Coburn has been retained as an expert in matters involving:

• Restaurant and hospitality operational standards and practices
• Premises safety and slip/trip/fall incidents
• Burns and hot beverage incidents
• Staffing, training, and operational supervision
• Guest incidents involving warnings, procedures, and reasonable safety practices
• Restaurant safety and security practices, including foreseeability, notice, and reasonable intervention
• Alcohol awareness and responsible beverage service
• Restaurant concept viability and operational feasibility
• Business interruption, loss of income, and operational impact analysis
• Lease disputes, lease assignment issues, and restaurant operational viability
• Restaurant development, franchising, concept conversion, and operational systems
• Furniture handling, maintenance practices, and operational safety procedures
• Foodservice operations, protocols, and industry standards

View RCI's Consulting Profile.

Karl L. Linck, PE, is an expert in Food Industry Production and Packaging with over 45 years of experience. A Professional Engineer in WI, IL, AZ, CA, FL, and ID, his main area of experience is with Sanitary Systems and their Design in Hygienic Food Processing. 

Litigation Support -  Along with design of many food processing / packaging systems and engineering department development and leadership, Mr. Linck has provided expert witness testimony for cases involving IP and Contract issues. His services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include site inspection, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed. 

Areas of Expertise:

 Background Experience - Much of Mr. Linck's career has focused around dry, oils, refrigerated and frozen products in the pasta, natural cheese, processed cheese, appetizer, and entrée areas. He has led strategic growth of engineering functions, including procurement and customization of production equipment, production line layouts and facilities design, automation, packaging material engineering, site selection, and support engineering functions for all production operations and distribution/office needs.  

From 1992 to 2019, Mr. Linck served as Vice President of Engineering for Sargento Foods, Inc., where he provided key technical direction and management critical to growth and assembled the engineering department to support innovation, improvements, and production support with proper engineering/technician skill sets, among other duties.

Mr. Linck is currently the sole proprietor and engineer for Karl Linck, Technical Consulting, where he specializes in engineering educational material development, manufacturing consulting, expert witness work, and expert advice for the food industry.