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Recover Lost or Deleted Files – FREE & ASAP

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Lina Maini

We recently experienced the necessity to recover tons of lost, deleted, virused-out and buggy data. Backstep: Allow me to preface today’s Bulletin with “I’m writing this issue instead of our resident IT expert, Jonathan Caspian.” (When IT guys insist on NO COMMUNICATION WITH THE OUTSIDE breaks, perhaps it should give us all a heads up to disconnect from our tech-driven world every so often.) Nonetheless, my writing this tech-specific issue should boost the credit given to this week’s recommended product.

RECUVA. (Pronounced recover. We’re not certain but that name smacks of having come from east of Mineola.) Recuva.com is a fanastic little find. This FREE Windows-based application restores files that have been accidently deleted or lost due to a virus or whacky bug. (And, while I’m sure the telecoms will disagree, be very careful with DSL installations. This type of broadband connection seems to inherently come with weird glitches that are responsible for destabilizing Windows OSs and wiping out key data. )

The audio on the vid clip may be somewhat difficult to follow, but it is accompanied by tight visual instructions.

Recuva.com. It works and it’s free.

BNI Operatives: Street Smart: Web Savvy.

Stay safe,

Lina

Filed under: application, audio, bni, bug, deleted, DSL, files, freeware, lost, priform, recuva, restore, rocover, software, telecom, video, virus, visual, Windows | Leave a Comment »

No Ground Markings; No Witnesses – Impact Speed Determination

Posted on November 19, 2007 by Lina Maini

The subject of impact speeds is often one of the most important issues to investigators of pedestrian collisions, particularly if there appears to be a violation of the law. Estimating vehicle speeds, is also crucial in civil cases, as it relates to negligence and liability. The various available techniques in descending order of accuracy, (although this can certainly be subject to interpretation) are:

1. Skid Marks

2. Pedestrian Throw Distance

3. Vehicle Damage

4. Pedestrian Injury

5. Witness/Driver Statements.

In many instances, an accident investigation is not requested for months or years after the incident. Crash investigators have had to reconstruct MVAs where

1. no verifiable skid mark information exists,

2. the pedestrian throw distance is at best a highly subjective calculation and

3. there are vastly different speed estimates from the drivers of the involved singly-occupied accident vehicles.

These factors can make an accident investigation interesting, but not unsolvable for the seasoned reconstructionist. Investigators can resort to calculating impact speeds by vehicle damage – almost always available via repair records and or photographs. Below is a graphic representing vehicle damage relative to impact speed.

From Vehicle Damage (if you cannot view the below image, simply click once in the image box)

BNI Operatives: Street Smart; Net Savvy

As Always, stay safe,

Lina

Filed under: crash investigation, crash investigations, impact, impact speed, pedestrian, skid marks, speed, throw distance, velocity, witness, witnesses | Leave a Comment »

Witness Statement Checklist (for MVAs)

Posted on November 12, 2007 by Lina Maini

Witness Statement Checklist (Updated each winter)

Witness statements; seem simple enough. The attorney needs the incident/accident details; recorded in an accurate and concise manner. Often, however, it is the experience of both the seasoned accident investigator and the harried trial lawyer to have obtained a witness statement (usually out in the field) only to realize later that it is not as comprehensive as he or she would have liked. Especially in multi-vehicle accidents with serious/fatal injuries (as in the above vid), the investigator needs to be extremely thorough.

BNI’s founders sought to alleviate this concern for attorneys and conducted an in-depth review of witness statements obtained over the course of its decade in the private investigation field. After a careful study, we’ve created incident-appropriate Witness Statement Checklists for the investigative and trial law professional. This week, we’ve attached a Witness Statement Checklist relating to motor vehicle accidents.

WITNESS STATEMENT CHECKLIST (MVA)
This checklist contains items that must be addressed for a witness statement to be considered complete. One checklist per involved vehicle.

1. WITNESS PEDIGREE (to include name, address, phone # (home, cell, work,) DOB, SSN,employment/scholastic and licensed driver info, and email addresses.

2. WEATHER CONDITIONS (including possible glare)

3. LIGHTING CONDITIONS

4. SURFACE CONDITIONS (roadways, shoulders…)

5. DEBRIS/CONSTRUCTION PRESENT

6. DESCRIPTION OF ROADWAY (# of lanes, travel direction, divider present…)

7. SIGN DEVICES/PRESENCE OF TRAFFIC AGENT

8. DIRECTION OF TRAVEL OF PARTICIPANTS (drivers/pedestrians…)

9. DESCRIPTION OF ACCIDENT (detailed)

10. ALCOHOL/DRUG INVOLVEMENT

11. WHERE WAS THE DRIVER GOING?

12. RATE OF SPEED

13. FORCE OF IMPACT

14. DAMAGE TO VEHICLE (detailed)

15. POSITION OF OCCUPANTS

16. OBSERVABLE INJURIES SUSTAINED (detailed)

17. MEDICAL ATTENTION RECEIVED AT SCENE

18. EMERGENCY/OFFICIAL VEHICLE AND PERSONNEL RESPONSE

19. POSITION OF VEHICLE AFTER IMPACT

20. SUMMONSES ISSUED

21. STATEMENT(S) MADE AT SCENE

22. ADDITIONAL WITNESSES

23. WAS THE VEHICLE TOWED?

BNI Operatives: Street smart: Net savvy.

To all who have, and those that continue to, serve, our thoughts are with you this Veteran’s Day,

Stay Safe,

Lina

Filed under: attorney, crash, investigator, lawyer, mva, roadway, summonses, vehicle, witness, witness statement | Leave a Comment »

Kelly Chang, Esq.: Online Marketing Genius

Posted on November 5, 2007 by Lina Maini

Kelly Chang, an LA-based family and divorce lawyer, our featured Clip of the Week focus, has figured out how to leverage YouTube to promote her practice. You Tube is free, easy and ultimately, the success of your marketing effort in this venue depends entirely on you – how you portray yourself and your skills and experience. You do not have this level of control utilizing traditional advertising avenues. Aside from the obvious costs involved, print, tv and radio advertising all require an ad designer; almost always not the client. YouTube allows for consumer-control and provides effective distribution with deep market penetration potential.

Quick ground rules for making a YouTube video:

1. Do NOT hire a film crew. Unnecessary. A good handheld digicam will do- especially one that is HD-enhanced. Canon and Sony are good choices.

2. Flesh out a brief script for yourself. Try not to be rigid; but stick to your main selling points – for your practice and even more importantly, your character.

3. Allow for viewer comments. (It’s risky but not as much as looking overly controlling.)

The one thing we would have done differently would have been to insert a scrolling I.D. banner along the bottom of the video. There are tons of video editing apps (such as Video Edit Magic) that you can use: some free; most easy to use. Try cnet.com for well tested suggestions.

Turned into an office and/or family project, advertising your practice on YouTube or similar internet venue, can also be an empowering and loyalty-inspiring group project.

BNI Operatives: Street smart, Net Savvy.

As always, stay safe,

Lina

Filed under: advertising, attorney, canon, client, comsumer, lawyers, marketing, sony, video, video edit magic, youtube | Leave a Comment »

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