It’s\u00a0better still\u00a0when you watch the forensic engineer\u00a0do some of his work.\u00a0 We learn by seeing and doing – something like 80% to 85% of what we know is got visually.\u00a0 At the very least, you will better understand your expert’s explanation of the cause of the accident or failure.<\/p>\n
I was reminded of this recently when a client indicated that he got a lot sitting and watching me work.\u00a0 I think he was quite taken by what he saw and I was impressed that he wanted to go to the scene with me. \u00a0He resolved his case based in part\u00a0on what he experienced that day and the pictures he took.\u00a0 I wasn’t required to give even a verbal report let alone a written report.<\/p>\n
I was also reminded of the benefit of a site visit when I met and spoke with a forensic photographer recently – photographs, the next best thing to being there, and also good for refreshing your memory of a site visit – and when I read a short manual on forensic photography. (Ref. I)<\/p>\n
Counsel, we\u00a0don’t see\u00a0you at the scene very often.\u00a0 I can think\u00a0of only four times in recent years.\u00a0 Engineers swear by the worth of a visual assessment of a site. (Refs 2 to 6)\u00a0 You are also certain to get\u00a0a lot\u00a0from going to the scene.<\/p>\n
What does Counsel see when s\/he goes on site?\u00a0 <\/strong>Aside from picking up a valuable concrete impression of the scene of the accident or failure?<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> Slip and Fall Accident\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Counsel and the injured party sat and watched me use\u00a0non-textbook methods to\u00a0investigate the cause of a slip and fall accident.\u00a0 I tested the skid resistance of the floor using pork belly – a pig’s belly skin, to simulate the injured party’s bare feet.\u00a0 This was recommended by medical doctors and veterinarians.<\/p>\n There was\u00a0also a\u00a0question\u00a0about the source of water on\u00a0a floor that was supposed to be dry.\u00a0 I thought earlier\u00a0about\u00a0a\u00a0shower in a dressing room but it was some distance away.\u00a0 Still, maybe.\u00a0 So I put\u00a0my bathing suit on that I\u00a0had\u00a0with me, took a shower and walked to\u00a0the area of the fall – dripping water\u00a0along the way and on the “dry” area.<\/p>\n My client got an eye-full during his site visit.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Inadequate Underpinning\u00a0<\/strong> A young lawyer watched me excavate and expose the underpinning\u00a0of a\u00a0building using a backhoe and manual labour – me doing the manual work,\u00a0during three days of investigative site work.\u00a0\u00a0She also watched me examine the underpinning closely, and measure and photograph it. \u00a0Real dirty hands and muddy boot work.<\/p>\n I tried to get\u00a0her down into the muddy excavation to see up close one of the worst deficiencies of the inadequate underpinning but that was too much for her.\u00a0 Still\u00a0she saw it from the edge of the excavation and reported back to her manager.\u00a0 I’m certain she will remember that site experience and\u00a0be guided by it\u00a0if\u00a0she practices civil litigation.<\/p>\n Her\u00a0manager was to be commended sending her to the site.\u00a0 It would have been much better if he had got out\u00a0there –\u00a0the one arguing the case,\u00a0but at least someone did.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> Foundation Failure\u00a0<\/strong> The owner’s lawyer\u00a0held meetings in\u00a0an industrial building that was supported on foundations that were still settling and damaging the building 10 years after construction.\u00a0\u00a0He saw the building and the cracks in the walls up close.\u00a0\u00a0He got visual impressions that helped\u00a0him understand the report I wrote on the\u00a0extent and cause of problem.<\/p>\n Unfortunately\u00a0he was\u00a0not there when I strengthened the foundation soils by grouting –\u00a0a ground improvement technique not often seen in Atlantic Canada.<\/p>\n 4.<\/strong> \u00a0Flooding<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Counsel came to the site and saw the flooded land and the unusual source of some of the flood water.\u00a0 I later took low level, oblique aerial photographs with a camera mounted on a drone\u00a0– the first time I used this technique, and gave them to the lawyer to\u00a0refresh\u00a0his memory of what he saw when he was on site.\u00a0 He didn’t say\u00a0but I know it benefited him.\u00a0 Hard not to.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I’m certain\u00a0the lawyers in these cases\u00a0understood my explanation of the technical issues much better after being on site, and also argued\u00a0their cases more effectively.<\/p>\n It’s not a substitute for Counsel visiting\u00a0the scene of an accident or failure\u00a0but low level aerial photographs are making the expert’s job of informing the\u00a0justice system\u00a0much easier.\u00a0 They’re that good.<\/p>\n They could also entice Counsel to go to the scene more often, see for himself and get a little mud on his boots if not dirt on his hands.\u00a0 The young lawyer above – standing at the edge of the excavation, got the former but not the latter. \u00a0Nevertheless, she benefited just being there.<\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s\u00a0better still\u00a0when you watch the forensic engineer\u00a0do some of his work.\u00a0 We learn by seeing and doing – something like 80% to 85% of what we know is got visually.\u00a0 At the very least, you will better understand your expert’s … Continue reading \n