Tree Accidents (Stands) Expert Witnesses: 5

Jason S. Kiddy, PhD, PE, CFEI, is a principal at Aither Forensics Engineering, LLC, a forensics consulting firm located in Maryland. Dr. Kiddy spent over 20 years in various industries prior to becoming a full-time expert witness. He has broad industry experience in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from which to draw extensive knowledge on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Kiddy holds eight U.S. and four foreign patents. His work experience includes the following industries:

Oil and Gas - Aircraft and Helicopter Design - Military Equipment - Navy/Marine  

Dr. Kiddy has expertise in mechanical design, mechanical systems, hydraulics/pneumatics, plumbing / HVAC systems, corrosion, fire origin and cause, codes and standards, and warnings / instructions. He also has substantial experience in intellectual property matters ranging from invention disclosures, patent prosecution, and continuing through IP disputes. From a product design standpoint, Dr. Kiddy's experience includes all aspects of a product life cycle such as early stage R&D, product development and qualification, manufacturing, quality control, and failure analysis.  

Litigation Support - Dr. Kiddy regularly assists both plaintiff and defense parties with extremely competitive rates, timely service, and expert advice. As an expert witness, he has supported dozens of matters including opining on such topics as: product liability, heavy/industrial equipment, premise liability (slips, trips, and falls), construction defects, and fire origin and cause.

Areas of Expertise

Julian Forbes-Laird is a Chartered Arboriculturist, Arboricultural Association Registered Consultant, experienced Expert Witness and Principal Consultant of Forbes-Laird Arboricultural Consultancy Ltd. Mr. Forbes-Laird has a professional practice working throughout the UK and overseas. He covers all aspects of arboriculture, specializing in planning, tree safety and litigation related matters.

Mr. Forbes-Laird is supported by a team of regionally based consultants, giving him national and international reach. He sets the standard for client service, works throughout the UK and abroad, provides commercially realistic strategic advice, prepares sensitive yet practical management plans, works within project design teams to evolve arboriculturally defensible layouts, wins planning appeals, and handles an enormous amount of work under pressing deadlines helping clients' achieve the best outcome. 

Mr. Forbes-Laird is widely recognised as an authority on legal issues pertaining to trees and is an experienced Expert Witness. His expert services include Pre-Action Case Evaluation, TPO Prosecutions, Forensic Accident Investigation and Tree Root Damage to Buildings. Other Services Include:

• Planning for Developers and Local Authorities
• Tree Preservation Orders (TPO's)
• Safety Inspections
• Subsidence
• Expert Witness
• Landscape Design

John L. Ryan, BSME, P.E. is a Mechanical Engineer who provides general Mechanical and Structural Engineering expertise. Mechanical and Safety Engineering (MASE) provides full service analysis and accident reconstruction of products involved in accidents. 

Mr. Ryan's services have been requested for attorneys and insurance companies needing forensic engineering expert witness testimony to determine whether machinery and products involved in injury cases were adequately designed or whether they have a Design, Manufacturing, or Material Defect. All products are lab-tested on site to determine adherence to industry standards and engineering design protocol. Alternate preventative designs are developed when none exist commercially. 

Mr. Ryan is available for both Plaintiff and Defense, depending on the individual case. His services include producing high quality reports and visual aids in the courtroom such as scale models to help explain accident scenarios and alternate designs to judges and juries. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Accident Investigation and Reconstruction
• Machine Guarding Accident Investigation
• Climbing Gym Accidents
• Belay Device Failure
• Rock Climbing Accidents
• Fall Protection Failures
• Ladder Failure Investigation
• Design Defect Analysis
• Structural Analysis of Buildings
• Product Liability Investigations
• General Engineering Injuries and Issues
• Industrial safety
• Engineering Continuing Education
• Product Certification

View John Ryan's Consulting Profile.

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 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. Dr. Purswell has been an Expert Witness in the legal industry since 1997. He 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. Dr. Purswell's 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:

View Dr. Purswell's Consulting Profile.

Since 1988, Real-World Forensic Engineering, LLC ("RWFE") has provided engineering services to industries and government labs, as well as litigation support to both plaintiff and defense attorneys practicing in many areas.

RWFE Areas of Expertise Include:

At RWFE, we proudly distinguish ourselves by our Four C's:

CREDENTIALS. COMPETENCE. CREDIBILITY. COMMUNICATION.

Design Evaluation – Accident Investigation – Intellectual Property - Failure Analysis – Fire Cause & Origin – Component Testing - Computer Aided Drafting – Accident Animation - Expert Witness & Litigation Support

www.ExpertEngineering.com