Legal Experience
Bartel, Rudolf and Associates has represented the interests of both defendants and plaintiff in all the various aspects of product liability and fire damage cases; the damage claims in these cases have ranged from $2 thousand to $44 million.
Our courtroom experience is extensive and our engineers have participated in over 500 trials.
Our experts are graduate engineers possessing Bachelors of Science, Master of Science, or Doctor of Philosophy Degrees and some are Registered Professional Engineers and Certified Fire Investigators. Our experts have been qualified to testify in regard to numerous issues including:
- The National Electric Code
- The National Electric Safety Code
- The Standards of the American National Standards Association
- The Standards of the Underwriters Laboratory
- The Standards of the National Fire Protection Association
- The Standards of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration
- And many others
Courtroom Presentations
We have extensive experience in creating presentation materials which help illustrate complex technical information in clear and simple terms. Some of our tools include computer-aided drawings of products and incident scene lay-out diagrams, as well as 3D reconstructions of accidents scenes which can be used to demonstrate different scenarios in both static and animated presentations. We can generate on-screen displays as well as poster-sized exhibits suitable for use with an easel.
Evidence Handling
We maintain a secure facility to store large amounts of physical evidence recovered from fire and accident scene investigations - an essential part of maintaining the chain of custody of key physical evidence. The facility contains an evidence examination area suitable for sizable groups to examine and evaluate the evidence in an efficient manner, and our in-house laboratory equipment makes it easy for groups to witness, document, and evaluate testing and to conduct group X-ray analysis and evidence disassembly operations.
Case experience includes:
- Electrical utility-related accidents involving both plaintiff and defense
- Gas, oil, and electric furnace-related incidents including fires, explosions, and improper operation
- Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration systems evaluation relative to fires and accidents
- Automotive, residential, commercial, and industrial fire scene investigation and reconstruction from an electrical and mechanical failure point of view
- Household and industrial accident investigation and assessment relative to the cause and prevention of the accident
- Natural, propane and sewer gas explosions and aftermath evaluation
- Lightning-related fires and incidents
- Extensive laboratory testing and evaluation of electric, gas, and oil type products relative to fires and accidents