Lightning Expert Witnesses, Page 1

Ernest P. Chiodo, M.D., J.D., M.P.H., M.S., C.I.H. is a physician, attorney, Certified Industrial Hygienist (C.I.H), and biomedical engineer. Dr. Chiodo is board certified in the specialties of Internal Medicine, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, and Public Health and General Preventive Medicine. Dr. Chiodo served as the Medical Director of the City of Detroit and was the chief physician in charge of measures designed to protect the public health of over one million persons. He has also been the lead expert witness in a number of high profile cases including serving as the lead expert witness in a mass toxic tort case for Gerry Spence.

Areas of Expertise:

Toxicology
Epidemiology
Industrial Hygiene
Mold
Asbestos
Benzene
Biomedical Engineering
Accident Reconstruction
Electrocution
Building Related Disease
Biomechanics
Bed Bugs

• View Dr. Chiodo's Biography

• More on Dr. Chiodo's Areas of Practice

11/6/2012 · DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)

Genetic and DNA Evidence: The Emperor Has No Clothes

By: Dr. Ernest Chiodo

Genetic evidence in the form of DNA profiles has proven to be a powerful tool in the advance of justice by proving the innocence of accused persons.

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10/23/2012 · Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

Low Speed Automobile Collisions

By: Dr. Ernest Chiodo

Low speed motor vehicle collisions are a common occurrence. The use of cellular phones, text messaging, and e-mailing while driving has only increased the frequency of low speed motor vehicle collisions. A motor vehicle collision where there is only minor damage to the vehicles may result in personal injury claims for substantial sums.

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10/11/2012 · Toxicogenomics

The Role of Toxicogenomics in Toxic Tort Litigation

By: Dr. Ernest Chiodo

In toxic tort litigation, a person is often claiming to have developed cancer or some other serious disease due to having been exposed to a particular substance. Determining if the exposure to the substance was the cause of the disease is often a central focus of the litigation.

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9/26/2012 · Medical - Medicine

Impeaching the Spine Injury Medical Expert

By: Dr. Ernest Chiodo

It is a common error that an attorney retains the wrong type of expert to testify in a lawsuit. This error is particularly common when the expert is a medical specialist. It is widely believed that a medical doctor who specializes in a particular organ system is qualified to formulate opinions and testify as to all issues concerning that organ system.

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Toxic Tort: Medical And Legal Elements

Ernest Chiodo, MD, JD, MPH, CIH

A Licensed Professional Engineer in 11 states, John Averrett specializes in Electrical Shock / Electrocution, Utilities, Lightning Strikes, and Grounding cases involving death, personal injury, industrial equipment failure, vehicular accidents, fire cause/origin, contract, and construction disputes.

Areas of practice include: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; other states by comity.

John Averrett is Executive Vice President of Goodwyn Mills & Cawood headquartered in Montgomery, AL. He has more than 25 years' experience in plan development for governmental, municipal, industrial and commercial clients and is currently coordinating a group of twelve other electrical engineers and designers. In addition to his design efforts, Mr. Averrett's experience includes work with electric utilities that includes transmission, sub-stations, and distribution; work with investigating lightning strikes; work with investigating grounding insufficiencies; and work analyzing and providing solutions for arc flash hazards.

Litigation Support - Mr. Averrett offers expert witness services to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. He provides site review, thorough reporting, deposition, and trial testimony as needed nationwide.

Electrical Engineering
Electrocution
Lightning
Lightning Protection
Arc Flash
Electrical Safety

Building Analysis
Grounding
Shock
Electric Shock Drowning
Breaker Coordination
Electrical Utility Districution

• John Averrett's Curriculum Vitae

• Dr. Mustafa A. Mufti's Curriculum Vitae

• Services

Thomas R. Piazza, CCM, President and CEO of Murray and Trettel, Incorporated, brings to the company more than 35 years of experience in the field of Meteorology with more than 20 years in positions of management. He joined Murray and Trettel in 1975 after four years of experience as a Weather Officer in the U.S. Air Force.

In 1987, Mr. Piazza was named President of the Operational Forecast Division, in 1991, Executive Vice President of the Company and in 2001, President and CEO. In addition to his administrative responsibilities as President, he is a Certified Consulting Meteorologist holding Certificate #661.

Dr. J. P. Purswell, PhD, PE, CPE has extensive experience in Human Factors, Ergonomics, and Safety Engineering. He holds a doctorate in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech. He has taught Safety Engineering and Ergonomics in the Industrial Engineering Department at CSU-Pueblo since 1999.

A member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and the American Industrial Hygiene Association, Dr. Purswell also served as the Chair of the Industrial Engineers PE exam from 2005 to 2009. He continues to serve on the committee which is responsible for the preparation of the national professional engineering examination in industrial engineering.

Dr. Purswell is the author of more than 20 publications and presentations on Product Safety, Occupational Safety, Printed Warnings, and Auditory Warnings. Examples of products addressed include silica, asbestos, cleaning chemicals, gasoline containers, and recreational equipment. Dr. Purswell maintains NIST-calibrated equipment for the measurement of light, sound, force, and whole-body and hand-arm vibration in addition to standard photo and video equipment.

Litigation Support - An Expert Witness in the legal industry since 1997, Dr. Purswell has been qualified as an expert in state and federal courts across the nation in safety engineering, including safety analysis techniques such as Fault Tree Analysis and FMEA as well as product warnings / instructions and OSHA compliance issues. His services include site inspections, document review, drafting Rule 26-compliant reports, deposition, and trial testimony. He has been retained by attorneys for both Plaintiff (40%) and Defense (60%) more than 100 times, has been deposed approximately 50 times, and has testified at trial over 20 times.

Areas of Expertise:

Warning and Safety Instructions
OSHA Compliance
Chemical Accident Prevention
Product Safety
Lockout / Tagout & Machine Guarding
Trucks and Forklift Accidents

Power Tools Safety
Hazard Communication - Audible Alarms
Employer Safety Training and Supervision
Perception / Reaction Time
Ergonomic Work Practices
Working and Walking Surfaces - Slip, Trip and Fall

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

• View Dr. Purswell's Curriculum Vitae

• Company Case Studies

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• Schedule of Rates

10/10/2013 · Ergonomics

Citation of Ergonomic Hazards Under the "General Duty Clause" - An Update

By: Dr. J.P. Purswell

In 2005 a summary of "General Duty Clause" citations issued for ergonomic hazards was published (Purswell & Purswell, 2005). That summary showed that the primary area of ergonomics citation activity under the "General Duty Clause" (paragraph (5)(a)(1) of the OSHAct of 1970) by OSHA to that point had been concentrated in nursing homes, peaking in 2002 and 2003.

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8/29/2013 · Accident Investigation & Reconstruction

The Distribution of Pedestrian-Backing Vehicle Accidents by Backup Alarm Status and Vehicle Type

By: Dr. J.P. Purswell

The purpose of the current study was to update and expand upon an earlier study performed to review and categorize OSHA accident investigation records for pedestrian-backing vehicle accidents according to whether the backing vehicle had a backup alarm and whether the alarm was installed and functioning as intended. The current study includes an analysis of additional records as well as the business type (SIC code) of the employer.

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John Chip Corbin is a 40+ year electronic Subject Matter Expert, Expert Witness and Technical Consultant providing Services to both Plaintiff and Defense.

His Specialty is Disputes & Litigation Involving "Smart Home" Technology such as Crestron, Lutron, AMX, Control4 and others. Also Electrical Construction Defect and Personal Injury due to Technology.

Licensed as C7 & C10 (High and Low Voltage Systems) Contractor in the state of California since 1988 and Technical Expert Witness since 2010 with projects across the U.S. and Europe.

Areas of practice are Low-Voltage Communication, Entertainment, Automation, Lighting and Control Systems in mainly Luxury Homes.

Areas of Expertise Include: