Search results for: engineer report

Today’s blog is not going to endear me to HAAG, Rimkus, JS Held, and other regularly retained forensic engineers working for insurance companies. These engineering and consulting firms are big business. So much so that Sedgwick, a large independent adjusting firm, has acquired a number of these engineering firms. I can imagine many of you wondering how an adjusting firm representing the insurance company’s interest can obtain an independent and honest opinion under such circumstances. Continue Reading The Plague of Wrong and Insurer Worded Engineering Reports by Insurance Company Retained Engineers

A news report about a presentation at the Property Loss Research Bureau (PLRB) made this remarkable omission from a person teaching other property insurance adjusters, claims executives, and their attorneys: Continue Reading Independent Adjuster Leader Admits that Adjusters Tell Engineers Not to Place Opinions in Reports that Increase the Claim Value

I read Law360 five days a week for insurance law, class action matters, and California cases. One article, Insurer Says Condo’s Engineer Padded $30M Hurricane Claim,1 caused me to ask our Merlin Law Group Knowledge Manager, Ruck DeMinico, to get me more of the pleadings and reports from the case since it involved an engineering report which was allegedly changed in a wrongful manner to support a policyholder’s position rather than an insurance company’s position. Continue Reading Proper and Ethical Peer Review of Engineering Reports Is Important—But Wrongfully Changed Outcome Oriented Reports Are Never Right

Drew Houghton heads up Merlin Law Group operations in our Oklahoma City office. I was speaking with him just before our holiday party about the American Policyholder Association combating fraudulent engineering reports harming policyholders as noted in, American Policyholder Association Makes Resonating Comments About Insurance Fraud Against Policyholders. Drew then told me about a recently filed Oklahoma class action where engineers were accused of sham reports to help prevent earthquake claims payments. Continue Reading Engineers Accused of Sham Reports in Class Action

The Tom Brady legal victory is being criticized, lauded, and talked about by millions in our fanatical football country. Unlike the vast majority of fans—and being a nerdy insurance lawyer—I read the report. While doing so, I was struck about the similarity between the court’s reasoning into the unfairness of Brady’s proceedings and altered insurance engineering and estimate reports.

Continue Reading Why The Tom Brady Decision is Similar to Insurance Altered Engineering and Damage Reports

Most readers of this blog are aware of the issues surrounding altered engineering reports in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Often attorneys get a gut feeling about a case and believe that the other side may be trying to hide the ball. This has been true in many of our Sandy cases. On one such case, I discovered today that my gut was correct.

Continue Reading Anatomy of an Altered Engineering Report

Late yesterday evening, December 10, 2014, Chief Judge Jerome B. Simandle of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey sent a letter to several law firms handling Superstorm Sandy claims, Merlin Law Group included, concerning the potentially widespread issue of “Revised” engineering reports.

Continue Reading New Jersey Federal Courts Expect Flood Carriers to Turn Over All Draft Engineering Reports on Superstorm Sandy Claims

Yale educated Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown issued a blockbuster discovery ruling which will have ramifications for insurance litigation far past Superstorm Sandy flood cases. He is requiring insurers to turn over "drafts" of engineering reports.1

Continue Reading Altered Engineering Reports Must Be Disclosed – Sandy Flood Judge Requires Transparency