Permitting Expert Witnesses

San Juan Capistrano, California

Hotel & Restaurant, Slip Trip & Fall - Slip Trip & Fall, OSHA, burns, choking, food safety, dram shop, alcohol, negligent security, employee safety, commercial kitchen, customer injuries, ADA, management, franchise, ownership, permitting, training, investing, accounting, premises liability

Award-winning restaurant executive, operator, consultant, and expert witness with over 45 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Extensive background in restaurant operations, hospitality management, franchising, staffing and training systems, operational safety, commercial kitchen design/build, concept development, business viability, and restaurant-related disputes. Over the course of his career, Mr. Coburn has helped create, open, operate, reposition, and advise hundreds of restaurant, bar, hospitality, and foodservice concepts throughout the United States ranging from independent restaurants to regional and national brands. His experience includes service as an owner, operator, franchisor, consultant, President, Chief Operating Officer, and General Manager. Mr. Coburn remains actively involved in restaurant operations and concept development through Restaurant Concept Innovations and current projects including Lily’s Donuts & Pops and Lily’s Donuts & C...

Miami Beach, Florida

Construction, Property Damage - Construction Expert Witness, Construction Defects, Standard of Care, Building Code Compliance, Contractor Licensing, Construction Claims, Construction Contracts, Change Orders, Property Damage, Water Intrusion, Building Envelope, Real Estate, Residential Construction, Commercial Construction, Permitting, Project Management

James J. Cloud is a Florida General Contractor, construction expert witness, and licensed real estate broker with over 20 years of experience across residential, commercial, and large-scale development projects. His work focuses on evaluating construction practices, identifying failures, and determining how those conditions impact property performance, building code compliance, and real estate transactions. His experience spans South Florida, Southwest Florida, and throughout Florida, including major developments across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. He provides expert analysis, consulting, written reports, and testimony in matters involving construction defects, contractor standard of care, building code compliance, contractor licensing, construction claims, and property damage disputes. Mr. Cloud also evaluates construction and real estate-related issues tied to property transactions, including latent defects, disclosure-related matters, and post-sale defect claim...

Boulder City, Nevada

Hydrology, Engineering - Water Resources focused on: Flooding, Floodplain Management, Drainage, Surface Water Hydrology, Hydraulic Structures, Grading, Erosion, Permitting, water resource issues, Flooding

Mr. Douglas B. Blatchford, PE (AZ, CA, CO, NM, NV, TX, UT) has over 45 years of experience as a water resource professional. His experience includes dam safety, design and construction, energy, geographic information systems, groundwater hydrology, remote sensing, river systems, and surface water hydrology, in support of his expert witness practice focus area in water resources (flooding, floodplain management, drainage, hydrology, hydraulic structures, grading, erosion, and permitting). Mr. Blatchford served the United States Government (Interior, Reclamation) as the River Operations Manager on the Lower Colorado River, involved with water deliveries to Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, San Diego, and irrigators in southern California, southern Arizona, and Mexico. He actively served west wide in Reclamation’s dam safety program, and interfaced extensively with the USGS, the USACE, NOAA, the Colorado River Basin Forecast Center (CBRFC), Mexico, and many irrigators, local and state agen...

Tryon, North Carolina

Architecture, Construction Defects - Architecture, Standard of Care, Renovation, NCARB, Architect, Professional Liability, ADA Expert Witness, Building Inspection, Construction Defects, PCA, Zoning, Litigation, ADA Compliance, Litigation Support, Permitting, Expert Testimony, Building Code, Restaurant Construction, Expert Witness, Residential Construction

Licensed Architect with 40+ years of experience providing expert witness services and independent consulting across residential, commercial, restaurant, and institutional construction. Available to both plaintiff and defense counsel on matters involving construction defects and standard of care, ADA and building code compliance, property condition assessment, restaurant and commercial renovation, and zoning and permitting disputes. Distinguished by 20+ years of practical ADA compliance work across 360+ commercial restaurant locations in 10+ states — a depth of hands-on field experience that is rare in a single practice. Direct working experience with Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba's Italian Grill, and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse renovation programs provides authoritative command of brand standards compliance, contractor performance, and construction administration adequacy. Holds NCARB Certificate #57487 with California as primary license (C-22291, licensed 1991). Currently licensed in...