Premises Liability Expert Witnesses

Dr. James F. Pastor, Ph.D, JD, CPP, is a multifaceted security expert with a rich background that spans security, policing, legal, and academia. His career began as a tactical officer in Gang Crime Enforcement with the Chicago Police Department, where he gained hands-on experience in one of the nation's most dynamic policing environments. This real-world foundation laid the groundwork for his extensive expertise in security, policing, and public safety.
 
 Transitioning from the streets to the courtroom, Dr. Pastor built a distinguished legal career representing police unions, security guard and electronic security firms, corporations, and religious institutions. His comprehensive counsel and advice to litigation attorneys, corporate counsel, and policy makers is grounded on real world experience and practical understanding.
 
With a doctorate in Public Policy Analysis, Dr. Pastor brings vision and understanding of how policies shape incentives and influence human behavior. This academic insight, combined with his extensive experience, gives him a unique perspective on risk and liability, making him a sought-after advisor for corporations and communities aiming to prevent crime or mitigate its impact.
 
Dr. Pastor’s security sense is a blend of street-level policing intuition, academic scholarship, legal expertise, and technical know-how, further enhanced by a deep understanding of geopolitical trends. His decades-long study of terrorism and extremism also informs his work, allowing him to contribute valuable insights and assessments in a variety of settings.

Areas of Expertise:

Litigation Support - Dr. Pastor is a highly regarded expert witness with experience in policing, security, public safety, and legal issues relating to these. His depth and breathe of experience is substantive, yet practical. Bringing a unique background, along with credentials and skills, including participating in over 750 prior depositions, has proven to be very effective in his expert witness role.

Dr. Pastor has over 20 years of university teaching experience in security, public safety, and policing, including Northwestern University- Center for Public Safety and the International Law Enforcement Academy. 

Author of four books on security and public safety, plus chapter on Private Policing in ASIS International's Protection of Assets Manual and created Privatization of Policing Bibliography for Oxford University Press, both being comprehensive, substantive works relating to Private Policing.

View SecureLaw LLC's Consulting Profile.

Lance Foster, CPP, CSC, has over 30 years of experience in Corporate Security Management, Law Enforcement, and Security Consulting. During his law enforcement career, Mr. Foster served as a detective with investigative assignments in burglary, auto theft, and crimes against persons.

Mr. Foster later transitioned to the private sector, where he served as Vice President of Security for a statewide banking institution. In this role, he managed a department of 30 professionals and oversaw enterprise-wide responsibilities including risk assessments, physical security, investigations, data security, executive protection, regulatory compliance, security training, and the procurement and maintenance of security systems and equipment.  He has training and corporate experience in managing security personnel.

Clients Served - As a security consultant, Mr. Foster has developed, evaluated, and audited security programs for a wide range of properties and industries, including financial institutions, multi-unit residential communities, hotels and motels, retail establishments, high-rise office buildings, shopping malls, parking facilities, college campuses, lounges, jewelry stores, truck stops, and other commercial environments. 

Litigation Support - Mr. Foster is frequently retained as an expert witness by law firms representing both plaintiffs and defendants. His work focuses on foreseeability, standard of care, and the defensibility of security programs, central to case evaluation and trial strategy.

Areas of Expertise:

In addition to his professional practice, Mr. Foster has served as an adjunct instructor at two colleges, teaching courses in criminology, criminalistics, criminal justice management, and computer fraud. He has delivered professional presentations to the Community Bankers of America, the International Association of Professional Security Consultants, and the American Society of Industrial Security, Florida West Coast Chapter.

Bryan Netherland is a Safety & Premises Liability Expert Witness and consultant with more than 15 years of experience building and leading OSHA Compliance and Risk Management programs across manufacturing, logistics, and industrial operations, including Fortune 10 companies. Through Seek Safety Consulting, he provides litigation support and expert analysis to attorneys handling workplace injury, premises liability, and industrial accident cases nationwide.

Litigation Support - Mr. Netherland's work centers on standard of care, hazard recognition, and risk foreseeability. He evaluates whether a company's safety policies, training, inspections, and management systems met generally accepted safety practices, and produces clear, defensible reports built to hold up under cross-examination. Mr. Netherland is available for case evaluation, report preparation, deposition, and trial testimony for both plaintiff and defense counsel.

OHSA Matters: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/osha-expert-witness

Safety Matters: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/safety-expert-witness 

Premises Liability: https://seeksafetyconsulting.com/premises-liability-expert-witness 

Areas of Expertise:

Before founding his firm, Bryan led global workplace health and safety standards across global operations affecting more than 50,000 employees. He has further directed EHS programs for several national and international manufacturers. He holds the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Safety and Health Official (CSHO), and Associate in Risk Management (ARM) credentials, along with an MS in Occupational Safety and Health and an MBA. Bryan is a Walkway Auditor Certificate Holder (WACH) through the National Floor Safety Institute.  He has participated in or led over 100 incident investigations and is trained as a TapRoot® Advanced Root Cause Analysis Team Leader.  Bryan currently serves as an adjunct professor of occupational safety and stays practiced at explaining complex standards in plain terms a jury can follow.

Andrew Shedlin, BA, JD, CRX, CLS, CSM, is an acknowledged industry leader in the field of Real Estate Leasing. He specializes in consulting on the Development, Management and Leasing of Shopping Centers & Airports for both developers and retailers. Mr. Shedlin serves as a developer and consultant for dozens of shopping center landlords and tenants. He also has extensive experience in Airport Retail and Restaurants as both landlord and tenant.

Mr. Shedlin has developed or redeveloped more than 35,000,000 square feet of shopping centers as principal or consultant and at all of the top 50 airports in the US, and negotiated more than 15,000 leases as principal, consultant, landlord or tenant (as a business person and attorney), his clients have included dozens of international, national, regional, and local retailers and restaurants. Mr. Shedlin is a longtime member of ICSC’s faculty of the John T. Riordan School for Professional Development and a founding member of ICSC’s CLS Admissions and Governing Committee. He has received the ICSC Trustee’s Distinguished Award, serves on the ICSC Illinois State Committee and was previously NY/NJ state director for ICSC. Mr. Shedlin has taught at both Columbia University Graduate School of Business and Georgetown University Law School and holds a JD from Boston University. He frequently lectures at business schools, law schools, and for industry groups on Shopping Center Leasing, Understanding Leases, and Business Ethics.

Litigation Support - Considered the definitive industry expert in negotiating and interpreting shopping center and airport leases, Andrew Shedlin has worked as an expert on dozens of landlord / tenant disputes involving Interpretation and Enforcement of Leases and Shopping Center Management. He has worked with major law firms in numerous cities throughout the US. His services are available to counsel representing plaintiff and defendant and include written reports, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Background Experience:

• Arlen Shopping Centers - Executive Vice President & Counsel
• Equity Properties and Development Company - Executive Vice President (responsible for leasing and development)
• Previously owned and operated 2 retail businesses
• Facilitated entry of several international retailers into the US market
• Authored several chapters in real estate publications on subjects of leasing and understanding the lease

Adam Bercovici has over 40 years of experience in the Police and Security field. Mr. Bercovici spent 30 of those years with the LAPD, 20 as a supervisor and manager. He is currently a retired LAPD lieutenant and former security company CEO.

Background: Mr. Bercovici's leadership assignments included the Criminal Investigation Section- Major Crimes Division-The Joint Terrorism Task Force, The FBI Violent Crime Task Force ( where he supervised the FBI Fugitive Task Force), The Special Investigation Section, and Homicide Special Section. 

Since 2012, Mr. Bercovici has worked as a subject matter expert and consultant in Police Practices and Complex Police Investigations. His clients have included major law firms, insurance companies, and corporations.  Mr. Bercovici is currently retained on several high-profile cases.  He is an experienced Expert Witness who has written numerous Rule 26 Reports and has testified in both State and Federal courts.  Writing examples can be provided.  Mr. Bercovici has been an on-air talent, producer, and script and story consultant in the entertainment industry.  He was the Co-Talent on The History Channel Series JFK Declassified-Tracking Oswald.  Mr. Bercovici was the Executive Producer for American Cartel for Discovery Plus. 

Litigation Support: Adam Bercovici splits his work between defense and plaintiff. He has been retained by prominent civil rights firms, major municipalities and their legal counsel, plaintiff attorneys, city attorneys, and criminal defense attorneys. Mr. Bercovici accepts work based on the merits of the individual case.

Areas of Expertise: 

Ronald Tyson is a Building and Premises Expert in the construction business for over 45 years.  He has years of hands on experience in the individual trades as a tradesman, subcontractor and general contractor.  

Mr. Tyson has been a Michigan licensed builder since 1967 and has functioned as a general contractor and provided supervisory tasks for Tyson Enterprises, Incorporated and other contractors on all types of industrial, public, commercial and residential construction projects since 1963. He is a member of numerous building code and standard authorities, including but not limited to IBC [BOCA, UBC] NFPA, IAEI, NAHB, etc.

Mr. Tyson's experience and expertise can help clients with contracts, safety, and other obligations as they may affect project control of contractors and/or project managers.  He can advise on the duties in new and remodeling construction and maintenance required by the premises owner.

Litigation Support - Mr. Tyson has served the legal community as a Construction Expert Witness for 35 years. He has worked for both plaintiff and defendant attorneys. He is available to perform onsite inspections, research, review litigation matters, makes drawings, interview litigants, and provides evidence for court, including correct building code and life safety statutes and standards as they may affect personal injury claims, construction, contracts, etc. and causation.  Mr. Tyson has never been disqualified in over 200 times in court.

Areas of Expertise:

Kevin Gordon, JD, is a Summer Camp Operations and Safety expert with 40+ years of experience in camp ownership, direction, supervision, staffing, training, aquatics, risk management, emergency response, abuse prevention, and camp policies.

He provides expert witness and consulting services to plaintiff and defense counsel in camp-related injury, supervision, safety, and operational matters involving summer camps, overnight or day camps, and youth recreation programs