Allegedly Defective Ladder Injures Homeowner

This case involves a 41-year-old female homeowner who was injured after she fell off of a ladder. She had borrowed an aluminum ladder from her neighbor to clean her gutters. As the woman reached the top of the ladder, it gave way causing her to fall 15 feet. The woman suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the incident. It was alleged that the structural integrity of the ladder was compromised. We require an expert who can perform an inspection of the ladder and determine if the ladder was defective or the structure had been tampered with.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Please describe your failure analysis experience, particularly with ladders.

Expert Witness Response E-007536

I have 16+ years of forensic engineering experience inspecting failed ladders and determining root cause failure analysis. I am proficient in the ANSI 14 series of ladder standards including portable, commercial, and industrial grade ladder standards. I am also a voting member of a forensic engineering subcommittee. I have significant legal experience, as I have evaluated 200+ failure analysis case and testified on 20+ occasions as a forensic engineering expert. About 40-50 of the cases I've handled have specifically involving ladder failure analysis, including inspection of both wood and aluminum ladder failures. The failures I've analyzed have included buckled legs, failed fasteners, missing labels, and toppled ladders from misuse.