Litigation Support and Courtroom Sound Demonstrations

My specialty is testing and applying the test results to produce proper job recommendations. I have used a hands-on approach to thousands of jobs over 36 years. In addition, I have had successful experience devising, when necessary, unique solutions which have become standard practice for others.

I constantly see soundproofing jobs that have been done incorrectly because of incorrect assumptions and lack of appropriate testing. For instance, some consultants are actually salesmen for their acoustical products. Their consultant status offers a veneer of legitimacy to their expensive and often ineffective foams and sheets. One "consultant" sells products, all made by others, with the names changed so that you can't find them elsewhere.

I often see consultants deluge their clients with computer programs and impressive charts and graphs that are irrelevant. Or they write reports with technical terms that cannot be understood. See one example.

Sometimes consultants have to rent equipment that they have no idea how to use. This does not inspire confidence in judges and juries. I often bring my own equipment into court for convincing demonstrations.

By demonstrating sound levels on a spectrum analyzer I was able to convince a jury that the Dept. of Environmental Protection’s expert was wrong, resulting in a large cash award for my client. See Turley v. NYC Police Department.

In a case in which my client was being disturbed by noise from a recording studio in his building, I made a recording of the music he heard for calibrated playback in court. The judge was thus able to experience the noise disturbance himself. The result was that the recording studio had to completely rebuild their facility. See Alchemy v. House Of Sound

I always advise and educate my client's attorneys so they know how to question the opposition. By demonstrating inconsistencies in testing procedures, a judge discredited the opposing expert and ordered my opponent's business closed. See Pilot Recording Studios v. Sutton Gymnastics.

I have been building electronic systems since I was 6 years old. A ham radio operator at the age of 7, I was in the part-time business of building burglar alarm systems for neighbors as a teenager. I have designed hundreds of electronic devices for many customers. I have performed electronics repairs for thousands of clients. I have designed devices that are used by many acoustic consultants and government laboratories.

As a result, I have a good working knowledge of the sound equipment that I use in my consulting work. I believe that without electronics knowledge, a consultant's use of measuring equipment is seriously hampered.

An “expert” witness whose knowledge and experience is lacking can produce disastrous results for his client in court. Judges appreciate learning about sound from someone they can rely on. If they feel that they are being talked down to, or they don't understand what the expert witness is saying, they may not credit their testimony.