Real Estate: Residential Expert Witnesses: 20

Robert S. Griswold, CRE, CPM, CCIM, ACoM, RPA, PCAM, CCAM, GRI, ARM, has over 40 years of specialized experience in the field of Real Estate Management. He is currently active as a day-to-day hands-on, licensed practitioner, consultant, and expert witness in all aspects of real estate (except valuation). A 3-time graduate of the distinguished Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California with a BS ('81), MBA ('86) and MSBA (2nd Masters) ('88) in real estate and related disciplines, Mr. Griswold is a recognized expert on management of all types of residential real estate. He has actively managed over 70,000 residential units and several million square feet of commercial, industrial, self-storage and retail properties nationally. He has extensive experience as a court-appointed receiver (over 200 times) for private lenders and major financial institutions. 

Litigation Support - In the last 40+ years, Mr. Griswold has consulted on over 4,000 litigation matters, has been deposed over 700 times, and provided sworn testimony in trial or arbitration on over 200 occasions in both state and federal litigation matters throughout the United States. Also serving as a court-appointed bankruptcy Custodian and Referee, his casework is very evenly divided between plaintiff and defense work. Mr. Griswold is uniquely qualified to opine on real estate-related litigation matters, having authored or co-authored the 12 best-selling real estate books: Real Estate Investing For Dummies, Property Management Kit For Dummies; Mortgage Management for Dummies, and Landlord's Legal Kit For Dummies. His 15+ years as an On-Air NBC-TV Real Estate Expert and a similar tenure as a major radio station weekly talk show host have prepared him to explain complicated matters at an 8th grade level and present convincing opinions to juries. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Robert Griswold's Consulting Profile.

James D. Wamble, PE, RLS has over 40 years of experience as a Professional Civil Engineer and Registered Land Surveyor. During the course of his career, Mr. Wamble has worked on land planning, land surveying, or civil engineering projects in all counties of the middle and west Tennessee regions, and several counties in east Tennessee. Mr. Wamble has offered litigation support services as an expert witness in cases since 1976. In the last four years, he has testified 10 times in 7 lawsuits. These litigation cases include land planning, land surveying, and civil engineering issues. Mr. Wamble has experience with depositions, trials, hearings, and arbitrations.

Expert Witness Services Include:

Areas of Expertise:

• Civil Engineering: Design of grading, drainage, utilities, roads, lakes, dams, detention basins, parking lots, shopping centers, subdivisions, apartments, condominiums, planned unit developments, specific plans, industrial parks, mobile home parks, mini warehouses, hotels and office building site plans; flood, drainage, and utility studies; low impact design; financial developability and constructability analysis of proposed developments; preparation of cost estimates; assisting clients in setting project budgets; designing projects to contain cost within determined project budget; construction project management, inspection, administration, and processing of contractors’ pay requests
• Land Surveying: Topographic, Route, Land, Boundary, Utilities, Aerial ground control, Engineering design, and Construction Surveys
• Land Planning: Land use/development feasibility analysis, planning and concept design of residential, commercial, industrial and municipal projects; zone change applications; planned unit development and specific plan applications; site selection consultation; and graphic presentations

View James Wamble's Consulting Profile.

Real Estate Brokerage Expert, Manager, Educator

Jane Trust Ryan has over 28 years of experience as a licensed Real Estate professional. She has served as a Real Estate Brokerage Leader, Compliance Officer, and Transaction Manager. She has over 20 years of experience training 1,000+ agents in agency, law, contracts, negotiation, disclosure, compliance, and other real estate-related topics across various brokerage models.   I have provided court room testimony.

Ms. Trust Ryan is currently licensed as a Broker in NY, NJ, and PA, with past licenses in MD, DC, and VA. She has managed offices with 100+ agents and currently serves as Broker of Record within a network of over 400 agents.

Litigation Support - As an expert witness, Ms. Trust Ryan helps clients navigate the complexities of real estate lawsuits. She specializes in providing clear, actionable insights through thorough research and expert analysis. Her goal is to equip clients with the knowledge and information they need to make informed decisions and achieve the best possible outcomes in their legal matters.

Areas of Expertise

Paul Chandler, MAI, has over 30 years of experience as an MAI Designated Real Estate Appraiser and CEO of Property Sciences, a national Residential and Commercial real estate appraisal company.

Both the company's residential and commercial divisions continually benefit from Mr. Chandler's background in valuation, appraisal, lender-platform technology development, and online and print media. Prior to forming Property Sciences, he was Senior Vice President of Corinthian Real Estate, where he provided financial institutions with market analysis, branching strategy and site acquisition consulting.

Litigation Support - Mr. Chandler has extensive experience presenting and defending its expert conclusions and opinions in depositions and trial testimony.  He offers support from early case assessment and discovery through final resolution, relying on real-world strategic and operational experience, strong academic and professional credentials, and extensive practical knowledge of real estate customs and practices, and damages analysis.

Areas of Expertise:

Services:

• Advice and objective analyses leading to an improved understanding of the issues involved in a case and supply expert testimony about critical issues in the litigation
• Testimony concerning industry standards, customs and practices in order to evaluate the legal liability of the parties
• Forensics analysis to ascertain the facts and determine the historic context of the disputed issues
• Computation of economic effects to provide a court with an objective measure of value and damages, if any
• Advice to counsel including the evaluation of the arguments of opposing experts, assisting with the development of lines of questioning or specific questions for use in expert or percipient witness depositions and serving as real-time advisors to counsel to evaluate the responses of deponents during live deposition testimony
• Trial support services, including jury consulting, graphic design of courtroom visuals and technology support
  

David J. Brotman, FAIA, is an accomplished Senior Executive with proven career and solid experience in all aspects of Architectural and Engineering Firm Management, including project management, profit and loss, business development, mergers and acquisitions, sales and marketing, and strategic planning. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, with over fifty years of practical experience. 

Principal at Sunset Consultants, Mr. Brotman provides strategic planning and management consulting services for various entities, including those that need help with planning or architectural projects. He has served as Chairman of the City of Malibu Planning Commission where he advised on land use matters including the local coastal program, specific plans, zoning, conditional use permits, and subdivisions. Mr. Brotman spent 25 years with RTKL Associates Inc., one of the World’s largest Architect and Engineering Firms where he eventually served as its Vice-Chairman.

Presentation by: David J. Brotman, FAIA

Litigation Support - David Brotman provides expert witness services to attorneys representing Plaintiff and Defense. His skills include all facets of Architectural practice. His worldwide, multi-million dollar project experience includes retail, office, hotel, institutional, and mixed-use. Mr. Brotman's services include affirmative and rebuttal report preparation, mediation, and trial testimony. 

Areas of Expertise:

View David Brotman's Consulting Profile.

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SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

 Brian Spiegel and David Spiegel offer expert testimony and consulting services regarding smoke, water, fire, mold contamination property damage restoration, reconstruction, and construction defect related problems. Both have been speakers nationally and internationally on property damage restoration, construction, and mold contamination related topics. In the past at the Property Loss Research Bureau (PLRB) national mold symposium in Charlotte, North Carolina and at the Forensics Consultants Association on toxic mold litigation and mold remediation in Newport Beach, California. In the media, Brian and David have written articles for industry trade magazines and given television and radio interviews, including one with Brian on ABC TV “Good Morning America” featuring a segment on mitigating water damage. 

CONSULTANTS AND EXPERT WITNESS

EXPERT SERVICES

PROPERTY DAMAGE ASSESSORS

• Residential and Commercial
• Appraisal Process: Appraisers & Umpires
• Contents and Structure

Steven D. Epcar, CPM an Expert in Real Estate and Property Management Issues with 35+ years of experience;including residential, commercial, retail, hotel, condominium and mixed-use properties. Experienced in litigation support including standard of care, partnership conflicts, brokerage issues,landlord/tenant, valuation, personal injury, habitability, environmental, life safety cases. 

Steven is a member of the Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA).  He serves as a real estate consultant for institutional and private investors, providing an array of services: asset/property management related assignments, organizational assessments, financial feasibility, due diligence,and new development services. 

Previously, Mr. Epcar served as President, Residential Services for Carmel Partners a R/E investment/management firm in San Francisco, Principal/Founding Partner of Ventana Property Services, a West Coast third party management and consulting firm and President,Prometheus Management Group,a development/investment/management firm.

Areas of Expertise:

Christopher Hanson, JD, CCIM, has over 44 years of experience in the Real Estate Industry. A retired trial lawyer of over 25 years who's dealt exclusively with real estate cases, Mr. Hanson currently provides subject matter expertise in all areas of real estate litigation.

Background Experience - As a California real estate trial attorney, Mr. Hanson has participated in over 880 Trials, Arbitrations, and Mediations (only 3 UDs). Cases have included negligence, fraud, non-disclosure, breaches of fiduciary duty, and contract. He's defended and sued brokers and their insurance companies. He has represented bidders, borrowers, and banks in regard to foreclosures; and both sides in loan workouts, and worked with national chains doing state-wide store rollouts, and lease renegotiations.  

Prior to his time as an attorney, Mr. Hanson worked for 12+/- years as a Real Estate Broker, actively selling and leasing property (commercial and residential). He holds a CCIM designation, earned by doing deals.  Before his role as a broker, he spent 7+/- years as a title insurance company Advisory Title Officer, where he researched and wrote Preliminary Reports.

Litigation Support - Mr. Hanson offers a balanced and unbiased opinion. His services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant and include document review, depositions, and discovery, along with arbitration and mediation. His opinion takes into account all the technicalities and nuances of real estate along with his 4 decades of experience, and is delivered in a way a jury can easily understand. 

Areas of Expertise:

Joseph A. Quilici, CE, SE, CFLC, is a Registered Structural and Civil Engineer in the state of California and is a Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant. Mr. Quilici has over 40 years of experience in the construction industry. He has extensive knowledge of building codes and familiarity with innovative building systems.

Mr. Quilici's range of expertise includes luxury & merchant built residences, apartments and hotels, recreational centers, commercial, retail, and office facilities, religious and educational facilities, and industrial / warehouse facilities. He is also experienced with a diverse range of building materials, including tilt-up concrete, structural steel, post-tensioned concrete, concrete masonry units, foam block, light gauge steel, and timber. 

Qualifications: 

• Licensed Structural Engineer, over 35 years, 1986
• Licensed Civil Engineer, over 40 years, 1982
• University of California, Berkeley, MS Civil Engineering - Structures, 1980
• US Green Building Counsel LEED, Accredited Professional, May 2009
• US Build it Green, Certified Green Building Professional, September 2009
•  Forensic Expert Witness Association Board of Directors - Past President
• Board Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant
• Western Construction Consultants Association Westcon Board of Directors - Past President

2 Minute Informational Video

Litigation Support - Mr. Quilici is a Certified Forensic Litigation Consultant experienced in Destructive Testing, Forensic Investigation, Post-Disaster Investigation, and Remedial Design. His services include site inspection, thorough reporting, repair designs & exhibits suitable for estimating damages, depositions, and trial testimony for both Plaintiff and Defense.

Areas of Expertise:

• Rainfall Calculations, Earth Retention Structures, Grading, Roadwork, Drainage Plans, Flooding
• Structural Framing and Decay, Concrete Foundations, Swimming Pools, Water Feature
• Architectural Moisture Proofing Repair, Seismic Retrofit, Failure Investigation
• Pools, Fountains, Water Features
• Landscape and Recreation Structures & Bridges; Grading, Drainage, Flatwork
• Shells & Vessels, Structural Steel, Gunite, Tilt-Up Concrete, Post-Tensioned Concrete, Precast Concrete, Light Gage Metal, Engineered Lumber, Masonry and Foam Block
• Multifamily, Condominium, Hotel & Resort Facilities; Historic Restoration; Planning & Architectural Design; Merchant Built & Custom Residential, Commercial, Retail, Offices; Medical, Industrial, Historic Restoration, Religious

View Quilici Engineers, Inc.'s Business Consulting Profile.

Larry Lowenthal is a nationally recognized Real Estate Expert Witness who has been retained by dozens of attorneys across the United States since 2003 to analyze failed or troubled real estate transactions. 

Based in North Central Florida, he is also retained to help with substantial commission or fee disputes.

Insurance Defense attorneys retain Larry when their broker clients are charged, while plaintiffs and their attorneys retain him when charging real estate brokers with improper conduct. 

Jay Hibert was in the Commercial Banking Industry for over 25 years before leaving to form his own company, a real estate lending and consulting company. The company provides services to banks, non-banks, and individuals in need of creative financing solutions.  Still an ACTIVE lender in the industry, Jay stays updated on current customs and practices and has transacted hundreds of real estate and non-real estate loan negotiations in times of economic growth as well as downturns in the economy. His extensive credit background arms him with the understanding of how banks and other lenders operate internally.  

Litigation Experience - Mr. Hibert has been providing expert witness and consulting services since 2010. He has been designated over 250 times as an expert in 25 different states concerning matters relating to commercial lending, real estate, construction finance, SBA loans, brokerage, hard money loan expert and investment issues. His experience includes both Federal and State court cases where he has provided deposition testimony, trial testimony and arbitration testimony. 

Jay is a licensed Real Estate Broker (Cal DRE #01523) and for 10 years his company was a California Finance Lender and Broker through the California Department of Business Oversight. He is experienced in trial and deposition testimony and his services are available to counsel representing both Plaintiff and Defense. 

Key areas of expertise in litigation work include:

• SBA Real Estate Loans
• Hard Money Loans
• Lending Policies, Custom and Practice/Lender Liability
• Broker Standards of Care and Fiduciary Responsibility
• Loan Underwriting and Credit Administration
• Loan Process and Bank Loan Restructure/Workout Process
• Note Valuations/Collateral Review
• Litigation and Discovery Consulting
• Banking Operations/Administration
• Expert reports adherent to Federal Rule 26
• Hard Money Lending
• SBA Lending
• Loan Syndication/Secondary Market Loan Sales
• Title Insurance Cases
• Private Money Lending
• Predatory Lending
• Financial Elder Abuse
• Covid Related Finance Issues

*****Experienced in trial and deposition testimony*****

View Jay Hibert's Consulting Profile.

Andrew Allocco, PE, is a leading Construction Consultant, Florida Certified Contractor, Florida Licensed Public Insurance Adjuster and Real Estate Broker. With over 45 years of experience in his fields of expertise, Mr. Allocco's services are sought by individuals, corporations, developers, and law firms to oversee and advise on construction projects. He is the current owner of construction, real estate, and engineering consulting firms.

Background Experience - Mr. Allocco is the President of Indian River Construction Services, Inc. Prior to his current role, he served as the President of Better Homes Construction Services, Inc. of Miami, Florida, which performed in excess of 40,000 Building Inspections. As a Forensic Consulting Engineer, he inspects Commercial, Residential, and Industrial Facilities before, during, and after construction. He assists property owners with complex insurance claims, some of which involve significant and lengthy litigation

Mr. Allocco is not only licensed in the State of Florida as a Professional Engineer and Licensed Public Insurance Adjuster, he holds more Florida certified contractor licenses both presently active and past than any other individual in the State

Litigation Support - Since the early 1970s, Andrew Allocco has been an Expert Witness in many court and arbitration cases involving disputes between owners, builders, contractors, and architects. He has extensive knowledge of the court litigation process and has assisted law firms in providing facts and questions to be used during depositions and discovery motions. Mr. Allocco's services include inspection reports on the status of the property, depositions, trial testimony, arbitration, and mediation hearings.

Areas of Expertise:

Insurance Litigation and Structural Consulting - Mr. Allocco is also called upon by insurance companies and attorneys representing property owners to help adjusters evaluate loss. He has been retained to investigate the cause of structural failures, determine the extent of the structural damage, develop subrogation information, prepare the scope of repair, develop a repair design, draft specifications, and more. Mr. Allocco also has experience with code upgrades and notice of dangerous conditions, including hurricanes such as Hurricane Andrew.

View Andrew Allocco's Consulting Profile.

Dennis E. Wilson has over forty years of experience in Land Planning, Civil Engineering, and Land Surveying. His company, Horizon Consulting Service, specializes in Entitlements, In-Fill Projects, Civil Engineering, and Land Planning and Design for commercial, industrial and residential properties. Mr. Wilson works on both private and governmental projects. As an Expert Witness, Mr. Wilson has participated in property line disputes, condemnation resolutions and land use issues. 

Professional Memberships:

• American Planning Association
• Past Chair of Land Use Committee, National Association of Home Builders
• Past Chair Land Use & Government Affairs, California Building Industry Association
• Past Chair of BIACC PAC
• Past Chair/Current Member on Land Use & Transportation Committee, Modesto Chamber of Commerce

Frank S. Ferrantello, PLS, is a New York State Licensed Land Surveyor with over 20 years of experience in Surveying, Civil Engineering, and Land Use Planning. Both his field and office Work experience have dealt with a wide range of projects and sites including residential single, multifamily, high rise municipal, utility, private and public, commercial, and industrial. Prior to and post college, 

Mr. Ferrantello worked for the firm of John P. Ferrantello PC from 1998 to 2010 and MJM engineering from 2008 to 2016. His duties consisted of performing office and field surveying, drafting, research, computations, boundary analysis, solutions, investigations and determinations. 

Mr. Ferrantello also has extensive experience in Site Planning and Subdivision Consulting, examining title records, deeds and other recorded documents such as ingress and egress, pedestrian easements, right of ways, air and development rights, vista easements, bridle paths, beach, bathing and mooring rights, covenants and restrictions, real property, zoning, and other land use principles. 

Litigation Support - A mapping professional, Frank S. Ferrantello will enhancing your case, whether it is a vehicular accident, tree collision, wrongful death, adverse possession, extreme error, or misconduct surveys and maps. He has extensive knowledge of the local Long Island zoning codes, site planning and subdivision regulations. His services are available to attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant, insurance companies, and experienced developers. 

Legal Services:

Areas of Expertise:

View Frank S. Ferrantello's Consulting Profile.

Timothy L. Unger's 40 year career has been focused on the Residential Sector of Real Estate ranging from the acquisition and development of large-scale multi-product master planned communities, home building and the acquisition of land portfolios.

Litigation Support - Mr. Unger provides analysis and testimony for land development, entitlement, and valuation of residential project cases. His services include thorough examination and reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Background Experience - For the last 15 years, Mr. Unger and his partner of several years formed their own development company. They focused on the acquisition and entitlement of both greenfield and infill sites. In addition, Mr. Unger has completed some Expert Witness assignments that are master planned community oriented.

Relevant Experience:

• Managing the acquisition of two large real estate portfolios, including the underwriting, entitlement, financial analysis and business plan. Each one comprised of over 10,000 acres and 100 distinct parcels.
• The acquisition and restructure of a large master planned communities in northern and southern California. The ongoing development activities were accomplished with a dedicated on-site team selected and managed by Mr. Unger.
• Through the management of the entities describe above, built and sold approximately 8,000 homes, including 1,500 by his own company.
• Developed two significant brownfield projects in northern California including oversight of ground water and soils remediation.
• Entitled several individual as well several master planned projects, including working with the resource agencies to obtain permits necessary to initiate development
• Experience with all forms of CEQA compliance.