Dr. Gene Palermo has over 30 years experience in the plastic piping industry, primarily with polyethylene pipe used for gas and water distribution applications. He is recognized internationally as an expert in the field of plastic pipe. Dr. Palermo is a member of ASTM F17, AGA, GPTC, ISO, PPI, CSA, TRB and AASHTO. He has won the ASTM Award of Merit and AGA Platinum Award of Merit, which are the two most prestigious awards in the plastic piping industry. Dr. Palermo has expert witness experience in several cases related to plastic pipe - see below:
1. Plaintiff v. X fitting manufacturer and X pipe manufacturer. Polyethylene gas pipe failure (pulled out of compression coupling) led to gas explosion that destroyed home and injured two people. Represented Defendant. Wrote declaration indicating no problem with the polyethylene pipe used for this gas distribution application. Defendant was absolved of all charges after my expert report.
2. Plaintiff v. X contractor and X pipe manufacturer. Class action suit versus PEX pipe used in Washington State. Represented Defendant. Wrote declaration indicating there was no problem with the PEX pipe used in this application. Case settled after I wrote my declaration.
3. Plaintiff v. X contractor. Suit against contractor claiming damage to plastic pipe during horizontal directional drilling. Represented Defendant. Wrote declaration indicating that polyethylene pipe was not damaged during installation. Deposition for this case was on December 24, 2007. Case settled after my deposition.
4. Plaintiff v. X gas company. Suit against gas company due to Aldyl “HD” polyethylene gas pipe failure that destroyed home and injured people. Represented Defendant. Wrote declaration disputing claims made against the gas company Case settled after I wrote my declaration.
5. Possible suit against X gas company due to failure of Aldyl “A” butt fusion that led to property damage and injuries. Represented Defendant. Wrote expert report that butt fusion was properly made and failure was due to excessive bending stress from subsequent installation of sewer line. Case settled with no lawsuit.
6. Plaintiff v X pipe manufacturer. Class action suit against flexible multilayer pipe used in Florida to transport gasoline that failed and resulted in property damage. Representing Plaintiff. Deposition for this case was on December 3, 2007. Trial is still pending.
7. Plaintiff v X gas company. Suit against gas company due to Aldyl “A” socket fusion failure that led to property damage and injuries. Representing Defendant. Viewed failure analysis conducted by 3rd party laboratory and wrote report agreeing with their findings. Failure was due to bending stress on socket fusion as a result of a subsequent sewer pipe installation. Trial is still pending.
8. X County v X contractor and X distributor. Suit against contractor and distributor due to failures of PE butt fusions in dual wall leachate pipeline. Representing Plaintiff. Reviewed documents and wrote preliminary report. Trial is still pending.
9. Plaintiffl v. X gas company. Suit against gas company due to failure of PE pipe that pulled out of compression coupling and led to property damage and fatalities. Representing Plaintiff. Deposition scheduled for June 2008. Trial is still pending.
10. Plaintiff v X gas company et al. Suit against gas company due to failure of PE pipe that led to property damage and injuries. Representing Defendants. Case is open and trial is still pending.
11. Plaintiff. v. Contractor. in the Court of Queen's Bench. Suit against a contractor that did not follow proper procedure, which resulted in failure of a pipe liner. Representing Plaintiff. Wrote declaration for case indicating proper procedure had not been followed. Trial is pending.
12. Pipe Manufacturer v Resin Manufacturer. Suit against resin producer by pipe manufacturer who claims inadequate formulation with respect to proper level of anti-oxidant. Representing Defendant resin manufacturer.
13. Qui tam case v Pipe Manufacturer. Former employee accused pipe manufacturer of making pipe that did not meet HDB requirement. Representing Defendant pipe manufacturer.
14. Pipe Manufacturer v Resin Manufacturer. Resin manufacturer sold PE resin to pipe manufacturer which contained recycled materials. The pipe failed in several irrigation applications. Representing Plaintiff pipe manufacturer.
15. Plaintiff v gas company. Failure of plastic gas pipe due to arcing from electric cable led to explosion that caused property damage and injuries. Representing Defendant gas company. Wrote declaration indicating gas pipe failure was due to crossing of electric cable.
16. Plaintiff v gas company. Separation of yellow gas pipe from mechanical coupling caused explosion and property damage. Representing Plaintiff.
17. Plaintiff v Gas Company. Failure of Aldyl “A” PE gas pipe due to rock impingement. Representing Defendant gas company.
18. Plaintiff v resin manufacturer. Failure of large diameter HDPE pipe in Canada. Plaintiff claims faulty resin. Representing Defendant resin manufacturer.
19. Plaintiff v gas company. Failure of Aldyl “A” gas pipe due to a faulty electric cable. Representing Defendant gas company.
20. Plaintiff v Gas Company and Fitting Manufacturer. Plaintiff was injured when tapping tee failed by pipe pulling out of tee. Representing Plaintiff.
Background
Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:A: PhD in Analytical Chemistry
Q: Please list your affiliations or memberships in any professional and/or industry organizations:
A: ASTM, CSA, ISO, PPI, TRB, AGA, GPTC, AASHTO
Winner of AGA Platinum Award of Merit and ASTM Award of Merit.
Former Technical Director of the Plastics Pipe Institute.
Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
A: Presented about 35 papers on plastic pipe at various industry organizations.
Developed one day course - PE 101 - for gas distribution plastic piping.
Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
A: No
Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
A: About 10
Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
A: plastic pipe (polyethylene pipe, PEX pipe, flexible gasoline pipe)
Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?
A: 30%
Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
A: 70%
Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
A: four
Q: When was the last time you had your deposition taken?
A: June 2008
Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
A: none
Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
A: one
Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
A: five
Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
A: consulting
expert reports
affiliated with a test laboratory
Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
A: $275/hour
Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
A: $275/hour
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
A: $375/hour
Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
A: $375/hour
Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
A: normal travel expenses if travel is required (airfare/hotel/meals/rental car)
