• Atlanta
• Boston
• Dallas
• Ft. Lauderdale
• London
• Minneapolis
• New York
• Oakland
• Philadelphia
• Washington, DC

Christine Renella, Managing Partner of Zelle's Ft. Lauderdale, FL office, will serve on the panel "Weather Experts in Claims: So Many Perils" at the PLRB Claims Conference & Insurance Services Expo in Boston, MA, March 18 & 20, 2024. Co-panelists include Howard Altschule (Forensic Weather Consultants) and Leonardo Garzon (McLarens). 

The sessions will address:

• The role of forensic meteorologists and how getting reliable site-specific weather reports early in the claims stage can help adjusters conduct a prompt and thorough investigation and help make the proper determination of cause and scope of the loss. Wind speeds, hail sizes, and rainfall amounts can change over short distances and how having accurate, site-specific weather historical information after each event can play a major role in the claims resolution process.
• How engineers and adjusters use metrological data to conduct building envelope, roof, and cause and origin investigations—including the use of 3D Building information Modeling (BIM).
• The scope of investigate tools available under the “duties after loss” section of an insurance policy and how counsel can assist the adjustment team in discovering the information needed to investigate losses; including inspections, requests for information, proofs of loss, and examinations under oath.
• How to ensure the quality of the claims investigation will satisfy Daubert’s reliability factors, including: (1) whether the expert’s technique or theory can be or has been tested—that is, whether the expert’s theory can be challenged in some objective sense, or whether it is instead simply a subjective, conclusory approach that cannot reasonably be assessed for reliability; (2) whether the technique or theory has been subject to peer review and publication; (3) the known or potential rate of error of the technique or theory when applied; (4) the existence and maintenance of standards and controls; and (5) whether the technique or theory has been generally accepted in the scientific community.