Litigation Support / Expert Witness

We will provide expert insights and critical thinking to strengthen your case through the following actions:

 

• Develop, evaluate, and/or validate case theories;

• Review of applicable codes, standards, and good industrial practice; and

• Review, consult and cite applicable scientific and industrial literature.

 

Although a stakeholder can get the most out of an expert support by engaging the expert help as early in the case as possible, our experts can help in any stage of the case.

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Develop, Review, and/or Validate Case Theories

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Data Collection and Examination

Depending on the case development, our experts will collect relevant information and data through any available paths, such as:

 

• Incident site inspections, photographs, evidence/sample collections, and measurements;

• Gather documents applicable to the case, such as witness statements, witness interviews, incident investigation reports, depositions, expert reports, plant and equipment designs, engineering documents, manuals.

 

Analyze Data & Develop Hypotheses

The collected data and information will be analyzed and interpreted systematically using a scientific approach. Based on these analyses, our experts will establish the most likely roles of various relevant factors in the events that led to the incident, and form hypotheses of the causes and origins based on the evidence, data, information, and the science about fires and explosions and associated physical and chemical factors.

 

Test the Hypotheses

The hypothesis will be tested carefully by all known facts, data, and the body of scientific knowledge relevant to the specific incident. A hypothesis that is developed without supporting data is a hypothesis that is incapable of being tested and is therefore invalid. We provide laboratory tests, reconstruction tests, and onsite, full-scale tests to support or negate hypotheses. If needed, modelling is also performed to test hypotheses.

 

Elaborate and Determine the Final Hypothesis

Once the hypotheses have been tested, we will conduct further reviews of all the processes that lead to the incident in light of the evidence, facts, data, test results as well as modelling results.  We will ensure that the final hypothesis will be able to stand the tests by all credible data and represent the most feasible scenario.

 

Review of Applicable Codes, Standards, and Good Industrial Practice

 

Serving as Technical Committee Members of national fire and explosion standards (NFPA) committees, we provide relevant knowledge of Codes and Standards and accurate review of applications of these standards to your cases.

 

Our experts articulate will articulate the relevant standards for the industry or field at issue in your case, and explain the relevance of requirements in the standards, and discuss the extent to which stakeholders in the case did or did not comply with it.

 

Besides these, we will also discuss the best industrial practices relevant to your case.

 

Review, Consult and Cite Applicable Scientific and Industrial Literature

 

Fires and explosions are complex chemical and physical processes to say the least. The fire and explosion scenes we see are results of many variables. There are significant amounts of scientific, engineering and industrial literatures that can play important roles in a litigation case.

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Our experts find the cogent points in the literature, which is important to the case. We will also discuss the relevance of the literature to your case by identifying the relevant variables and their roles in the case.