Expert witnesses provide answers to tough questions
Retaining an expert witness in a contentious legal lawsuit can provide the insight and experience necessary for a jury or judge to...
Retaining an expert witness in a contentious legal lawsuit can provide the insight and experience necessary for a jury or judge to clearly understand complex, technical issues in a lawsuit. When the judge and jury understand your case, you’re in a better position to win. Here’s an example.
Company A, a large software company, buys Company B, a small startup software company with a specialized niche in software engineering.
Company A sells the services of both the combined companies A & B to Company C. Unfortunately, Company A’s marketing team oversold the capabilities of the combined company AB to Company C. A key factor in this case was that Company B has specialized skill and talent to perform the work company C required. Company C entered into a contractual arrangement with Company AB for software development work.
Three months later, Company C’s original project budget was totally depleted and another 100% of the budget had to be allocated for the remaining work.
The work schedule slipped six months past the original agreed upon contractual date. Company C sued Company AB for breach of contract, failure to perform and lack of technical competency. Because Company AB and Company C were in different states, the case was set to be tried in Federal Court. Company C retained expert witnesses to review the entire project and identify where possible errors occurred.
The retained expert witness is a computer science professional who has extensive software development experience. The expert witness determined that Company AB had culpability and liability in this action.
While this case is still in discovery stages, a jury trial is all but assured.
When entering or pursuing a complex legal matter, seeking and retaining professional expert counsel and expert witnesses should be the first step. Expert witnesses possess key domain and discipline knowledge that can help a judge or jury separate fact from fiction. If the judge or jury understands the case and your position, you’re in a better position to win.
Importantly, using the services of an expert witness who has domain knowledge is a cost efficient, effective way to help the judge and jury find the right answer to the legal question being litigated.
If you need help resolving a tough legal matter, let our consultants discuss the matter with you. Call us 817-386-3032; we will be happy to review your case with you.
Regional Representative in our Salt Lake City, Utah office, Jeff Carrel is a former senior supply chain managing executive with Johnson and Johnson pharmaceuticals.
Jeff brings more than 25 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical supply chain. He has extensive experience in tactical and strategic planning/scheduling, operations management, continuous improvement methodologies, project management, new product introduction, and customer relationship management. The breadth of these experiences allows Jeff to bring a holistic perspective to any situation.
Jeff earned an undergraduate degree in finance from Weber State University and an MBA from the University of South Dakota. He is a United States Air Force Veteran, having served 6 years as a B-52 Navigator in Strategic Air Command.
Regional representative at our Atlanta, Georgia office, Robert Mansfield provides executive level advice and counsel on strategic planning, leadership, supply chain management, operational logistics, and business transformation matters.
Most recently, he served as Director, National Programs, for the Aerospace States Association (ASA), where he managed nation-wide programs and initiatives to establish and promote the aerospace objectives of the U.S. states and territories. He organized the first ever aerospace specific Foreign Direct Investment Exposition in association with the U.S. Department of Commerce, facilitated the association’s Industry 4.0 activities, established the ASA national distinguished service award, and developed strategies to grow ASA membership.
Robert was the chief architect of the Air Force’s supply transformation initiative to improve weapons systems’ availability, through the innovative application of commercial practices. He led the Department of Defense’s global surplus and excess property operations, reshaping the global organization incorporating best commercial business practices, leveraging information technology, and focusing on customer determined outcomes.
He earned degrees from Arizona State University, cum laude (B.S.) and Air Force Institute of Technology (M.S.), as well as diplomas from Air War College and Defense Systems Management College. Robert also holds certifications in Defense Acquisition Worker Improvement Act (DAWIA) in Acquisition Logistics Management (level III) and Program Management (level II) and is a fully qualified Joint Service Officer (JSO).
Robert has served in several executive leadership roles, as well as leadership roles with community nonprofits; has received numerous awards for his leadership and public service; and has contributed to several articles and professional publications related to his industry experience.
Dr. Joe Michels is the executive managing director at Solomon Bruce Consulting. A retired military senior officer and former university business school dean, Joe has a rich and varied work history. This, alongside his years of education, leadership, and active community involvement, means our clients get not only his deep knowledge and expertise, but his diverse real-world experience and his natural curiosity to learn and grow.
Joe earned his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Texas A&M University and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and Montana. He also holds graduate degrees from the Naval War College, University of Oklahoma, and University of Southern California, as well as an undergraduate degree from Weber State University.
For more than three decades as Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Joe worked in logistics and experienced first-hand how structure, organization, and discipline work together to create efficient business models. He served in a wide variety of key command and staff positions in the Department of Defense and Department of the Air Force and has led and managed industrial production and manufacturing, acquisition, surveillance and academic organizations that were required to adapt to changing global economies and environments.
As Dean of the College of Business at Montana State University-Billings, Joe was a mentor within an organizational culture that fostered innovation and entrepreneurship. This experiential, personalized learning environment combined with strong leadership resulted in award-winning student achievements and faculty receiving international, national, and regional recognition for business plans, case studies, and research on every sector of business.
Joe has held various leadership positions — most notably with the Institute of Industrial Engineering chapters in Washington, D.C., Dayton, Ohio, and Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. He is a FELLOW of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE); a Certified Professional Logistician by SOLE - The International Society of Logistics; a Certified Cost Analyst by the Institute of Cost Analysis; and Defense Acquisition Worker Improvement Act (DAWIA) level 3 certified in Acquisition Logistics.
Joe has also received numerous awards for his leadership and public service in ensuring ethics/integrity, attitudes of excellence, and strong organizational achievement were implemented in global organizational climates. An active public school advocate, Joe has also worked in volunteer roles with public schools in California, Virginia, Washington, D.C., Montana, and Fort Worth, Texas.