An attorney that uses maritime experts extensively may need only look in his expert file to locate the "right" expert for his case. But in 80 percent of admiralty litigation the attorney doesn’t have or know of the "right" expert. Then he must find one.
An Associate of law clerk is usually given the job and they call around to other attorneys and experts they already know trying to find leads. Often this takes hours and in many cases may not result in the proper selection of an expert. Thus there is a significant cost (man hours) and the potential that an expert sold you on his services although he isn’t the best qualified.
Maritime & Environmental Consultants offers an attractive alternative. For a small fee of $50, a maritime safety consultant who is also an attorney, Captain Kirk Greiner, USCG (Ret), will recommend an expert. He does this as a full time occupation and thus has become an expert on maritime experts. In fact, he is presently retained to testify on experts in a Federal Court case. Presently, his files contain 898 different experts located from England and Portugal to Singapore.
And if he doesn’t have the "right" expert in his files, he will attempt to find the "right" one through the use of computer databases, locator lists and books. For instance, two requests for experts in cargo damage cases, one for cheese spoilage and another for goat skin damage claims, required him to search for specialists which were not within his group of Associates. They were located and provided his clients with the information needed.
Before recommending any expert, Captain Greiner will again interview and requalify the person he is considering to assure there are no conflicts and that the expert himself is comfortable with the disciplines required of him. Only then is the Associate recommended to a client. While the final qualification obviously is the responsibility of the client, less than one percent of the recommendations are rejected. The Associate works directly for the client and MEC steps into the background.
Maritime & Environmental Consultants must be doing something right. Business in 1985 increased 53% over 1984 and last year it increased another 54% over 1985.
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