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Frequently Asked Question
What is a premises liability expert witness?
An expert who examines the physical condition alleged to have caused a fall and measures it against recognised standards, then reports and testifies to that analysis. The scope covers the condition, the maintenance around it and the applicable code, not the medical consequences.
Who typically retains Paul Gaston?
Plaintiff and defence counsel, insurers and third-party administrators, property owners, and the managers and contractors responsible for keeping a building safe while it stays open. Retail, grocery, restaurant, healthcare, municipal, airport and commercial properties.
What geographic area is covered?
Chicago and Cook County principally, with matters accepted throughout Illinois including Will County and the surrounding collar counties. Illinois state matters proceed under Frye and Donaldson; federal matters in the Northern District of Illinois proceed under Daubert.
How is a conflict check handled?
Party names are checked against prior and current engagements as soon as they are received, and you are told either that the matter is clear or that it is not. It costs nothing and takes very little time, so it is worth doing before anything else.
Can a matter be taken close to a deadline?
Often yes, provided the position is stated openly at the outset. Where a disclosure date is near, the sequence is compressed and the priority order agreed, starting with whichever deliverable the deadline actually requires.
Is any part of this site legal advice?
No. Everything here describes expert-witness scope, methodology and qualifications. Case strategy, admissibility decisions and the legal significance of any finding remain entirely with retaining counsel.
Which records matter most in a fall case?
Inspection and janitorial logs covering the period before the incident, work orders for the area, the housekeeping policy in force, prior complaints for the same location, and the incident report with photographs. The flooring specification matters where the surface itself is in issue.
What can inspection logs establish?
Whether a walk actually happened, when, who performed it and what was found. They also expose the gap between a written policy and recorded practice, which is frequently where the standard-of-care question is decided.
How is notice established from documents?
By repetition. The same location generating work orders across successive months, a complaint history, or a repair raised and deferred all show the operator knew about a condition. The records are its own account of what it knew and when.
What if records are missing for the relevant period?
The absence is documented as a finding rather than assumed to favour either side. Surrounding periods establish what the normal record looked like, and the gap is described precisely, since a missing window is often as informative as the entries around it.
Does surveillance video change the analysis?
It can settle duration, which is frequently the pivot. Video showing how long a condition existed, how many people passed it and whether staff walked by is more probative than most testimony about the same period.
What weather evidence is used?
Certified weather records for the hours before the incident, read against how the entrance was configured and what the operator changed in response. A forecast storm handled with an ordinary routine reads very differently from a sudden unforecast event.
What happens at a site inspection?
Everything relevant is captured in one visit: the surface itself, the features around it that shape the walk, and any measurement the geometry calls for. The aim is a record complete enough that another expert could follow exactly what was examined and how.
How soon should an inspection happen?
As soon as practical. Surfaces get refinished, matting gets moved and logs get overwritten, so an inspection close in time to the incident produces far stronger documentation than a later reconstruction from photographs alone.
What does a written report contain?
The materials reviewed and the inspection performed, the as-found condition described factually with photographs and measurements, the standards applied, each opinion with the experience supporting it, and the scope limits stated plainly.
How are scope limits handled under cross-examination?
They are established in the written report before questioning begins. Where a question calls for a discipline outside the qualifications on the CV, the answer says so and identifies the discipline it belongs to, which is more durable than an unsupportable answer.
Is instrumented friction testing available?
Not in-house. Instrumented measurement requires walkway-auditor certification and calibrated equipment operated to a published method. That work is arranged with a certified auditor, and the surrounding condition and practice questions are handled separately.
Can testimony be given where another expert did the inspection?
Yes, provided the underlying documentation is sufficient to support an independent opinion. Where it is not, that is said plainly rather than working around it, because an opinion resting on an inadequate record will not survive scrutiny.
