The lyrics from the famous Kenny Rogers song, ‘The Gambler,” have words of wisdom for clients involved in a law suit. “You’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and when to run.” Law suits are incredibly expensive and like gambling, the outcome is uncertain. […]
If you are looking for an expert witness you already have a costly problem! In the past, disputes were settled with firearms or fists, or perhaps a handshake. Now they are settled with attorneys. If you’re in this situation, you probably know you need a highly competent law firm and attorney to handle your case. […]
Space Shuttle Challenger Many of us can remember exactly where we were at 11:39 AM EST on January 28, 1986. That was when the Space Shuttle Challenger failed in flight killing all seven crew members. Normalization of Deviance was a major factor in the Challenger shuttle disaster. Normalization of Deviance is when what was unacceptable […]
Or … How to Save a Fortune Litigation is expensive. Uncontrolled litigation is financially devastating. The blog discusses applying basic project management skills to litigation cases. By employing this approach, the potential to significantly reduce both the legal and expert witness costs is enhanced. A partnership between the case attorneys and the expert witness is […]
The introduction of the COVID-19 virus has changed our world overnight. This frightening event has shut down our economy, closed schools, put new rules into our society and as of today resulted in more than 74,000 deaths in the US. To put this in perspective just over 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam war. The […]
– Achieving Excellence in Any Project – The old saying in managing projects was Cost, Schedule and Quality. Pick two. This is because it is very difficult to do a good job on all three of these critical aspects of any project. If we highly control cost, the quality of the finished project may suffer. […]
OR – Keeping Your Expert Witness Sane – Litigation is extraordinarily expensive. Legal and expert witness fees can quickly mount up and become a significant percentage of the amount in dispute. I worked on a cost dispute on a plant estimated to cost $68MM but was significantly over expended. The litigation and expert fees were […]
We work in an industry where there is very little tolerance for errors since we deal with highly hazardous, flammable chemicals. Normally our plants operate with exceptional safety records since they are built to exacting standards, inspected frequently to monitor changes in integrity and personnel are highly trained. However, sometimes human error, cutting corners or […]
A key element in an effective Due Diligence study is to be able to quickly identify the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) on a current, historical and projected basis. These KPI’s include safety statistics, operational performance, status of maintenance programs and overdue activities. The KPI’s can be presented in numerical or graphical format however it is […]
Are Your Wires Crossed? By Rick Hoffman and Joe Rammage We recently evaluated a 15kV, 5000 hp, induction motor in a WPII enclosure manufactured by a foreign company. During an on-site inspection of the main terminal box it was discovered that the high voltage leads were touching. This raised significant concerns about the long-term reliability […]
