Category: Articles, Law Enforcement & Corrections, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts, Safety, Security Digital Evidence Management 3 Considerations TASA ID: 8635 With the world around us becoming increasingly digitized and video surveillance becoming more prevalent, legal professionals have become faced with a growing level of digital evidence culled from the security and law enforcement communities; in fact, some would suggest that effective investigations, loss control, liability reduction and safety enforcement now hinges on such evidence to remain effective. Read more
Category: Articles, Medical & Healthcare, Psychology/Psychiatry, Resources for Attorneys, Working With Experts Benefits of Knowing Your Defendant's IQ TASA ID: Did you know that knowing the IQ score of the defendant you are representing can actually be of great benefit? When arguing that IQ is a significant cause of crime, researchers cite studies to indicate that criminal populations usually have an average IQ of approximately 92 which is eight points below the mean. The relationship between IQ and criminality is particularly distinct within a small portion of the population, primarily younger men, who are responsible for committing a disproportionate amount of crime while higher intelligence acts as protection against lapsing into criminal activity for people who are otherwise at risk. Read more
Category: Articles, Chemicals / Toxic Substances, Medical & Healthcare, Resources for Attorneys, Resources for Experts, Safety, Toxicology, Working With Experts 11 YEARS LATER: THE WORSENING OPIOID EPIDEMIC TASA ID: 13340 Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing (PROP) is currently providing input to the U.S. Dept. of HHS to preserve the 2016 CDC Opioid Prescribing Guideline which is under some threat from the influence of the opioid pharmaceutical industry and some members of the pain community. This could also have positive implications for future legal cases for victims of opioid over-prescribing, especially in regard to the continued profit-driven malfeasance of these two sectors which have been largely responsible for the creation of the opioid epidemic. Will have more to say about this over the next few months. Read more
Category: Articles, Business & Commerce, Collection Litigation, Financial/Economic, Resources for Attorneys, Working With Experts FACE TIME WITH ASSET DISCOVERY FOCUSING on ASSETS to COLLECT AND EVALUATE SETTLEMENT TASA ID: 3877 ANALYZE THE AMOUNT DUE ON THE MORTGAGE or DEED OF TRUST. Math Sleuths. The loan amount is $750,000. The probable rate of interest is 5.25%. The term is 30 years, the date of the mortgage is August 1, 2017. The monthly payments are $4,142.00. The unpaid balance is $738,518. Assuming a loan to value ratio of 75%/Value, the purchase was $1,000,000 and down payment $250,000.00. Assuming that the monthly payment must equal one quarterly monthly payment, the gross income of the defendant is about $16,000 a month or makes $192,000.00 a year. Read more
Category: Articles, Business & Commerce, Communications, Entertainment, Marketing, Media, Resources for Attorneys Image/Reputation Damage From Media News Reports: Is it Legally Actionable? TASA ID: 2156 So the operative question here is: “when media exposure of a negative event or activity harms the image or reputation of a person or entity, is it actionable in terms of a lawsuit?” The answer is, “yes and no.” I’ve served as an expert witness in numerous cases relating to media reports that caused damage, representing both the plaintiff’s (those claiming harm) and the defendant’s (those that took the actions that resulted in the media reports). Let’s be clear about one thing first, the media is not the culprit and cannot be the targets of lawsuits if their reports were accurate as to the facts and there was no judgements made in the reports as to guilt or innocence. One might quibble about the extent of the coverage provided or whether it was fair or balanced but the media has a right to report the news as long as it is fair and accurate. Read more
