Litigation Support / Expert Witness
Expert Advice
We have been retained by law firms, attorneys, insurance companies and manufacturing companies to support their litigations about injuries, property damages and OSHA citations as a result of fires and/or explosions.
Our supports are based on over three decades of experiences on incident investigations, fire and explosion hazard assessments, and science-based analytical approach that is complemented by laboratory testing and full-scale testing.
Specialty Areas
Our specialty areas of expert support include but are not limited to:
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Flammable gas fires and explosions;
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Flammable and combustible liquid fires and explosions;
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Combustible dust fires and explosions;
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Fires and explosions involving aerosol products;
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Electrostatic ignition hazards;
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Fires that are caused by self-heating and spontaneous combustion.
How Do We Help
We will provide expert insights and critical thinking to strengthen your case through the following actions:
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Develop, evaluate, and/or validate case theories;
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Review of applicable codes, standards, and good industrial practice; and
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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.
Develop, Review, and/or Validate Case Theories
Data Collection and Examination
Depending on the case development, our experts will collect relevant information and data through any available paths, such as:
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Incident site inspections, photographs, evidence/sample collections, and measurements;
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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.
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.
Why Work with Us
Our expert advices are drawn from our broad and in-depth expertise and experiences as highlighted below:
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Served as expert witness/consulting expert in litigation cases that involved multiple fatalities, injuries, and claims of hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Pinpointed the causes of incidents, and proved and/or negated hypotheses of the causes and origins.
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Helped attorneys to navigate through the often-complex mechanisms of the cause, origin, ignition, propagation of fires and explosions and to solved difficult and intriguing issues related to the consequence (injuries and property damages) of fire and explosion incidents.
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Participation in national fire and explosion standard making by serving as Technical Committee Members of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards.
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More than three decades of extensive experiences to diversified clients, law firms, attorneys, insurance companies and manufacturing companies in diversified industries, including fire and explosion hazard and risk assessments, incident investigations, litigation supports, fire and explosion research, laboratory and onsite testing of fire and explosion hazards.
To learn more about our litigation support, please call us at 609 240 7545 or email us at info@PrincetonSafetySolutions.com today.