Expert Witness Services:
Herbicide Drift Consultations:
If you are looking for a high quality expert witness who is a horticulture
jurors, judges, claim managers, and laypeople are not familiar with
plant science, horticulture jargon, or diagnosis of symptoms.
Because of that, Dr. Everhart can be a valuable asset in legal
cases involving horticultural plants.
Dr. Everhart is a well-known and respected professional. He has
specialized knowledge and experience in horticulture related pesticide
drift complaints. Cases have involved financial losses due to growth or yield
reduction or loss of aesthetic value. Plants have included ornamentals, trees,
shrubs, fruits (including grapes), and vegetables grown in commercial and home
greenhouses, high tunnels, fields, nurseries, vineyards, and landscape plants in rural and urban settings.
For over 40 years, Dr. Everhart has served as a professional witness or judicial expert in court cases (see list to right) and has written numerous legal opinions or depositions. He has extensive experience diagnosing and assessing plant damage and injury symptoms due to alleged herbicide drift. Dr. Everhart also has research-based knowledge and practical experience differentiating signs and symptoms of actual herbicide drift from those due to other causes. This includes biotic problems caused by living organisms, such as fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes, insects, mites, and animals. It also includes abiotic disorders are caused by nonliving factors, such as drought stress, sunscald, freeze injury, wind injury, lightening strikes, girdling roots,nutrient deficiency, soil pH, salinity, or improper cultural practices, such as overwatering, planting too deep, or incorrect fertilization.
Everhart Horticulture Consulting also provides landscape tree and plant appraisal, damage evaluation, loss assessment, and advice on how to manage, avoid &/or minimize pesticide drift and future damage. A comprehensive written &/or verbal report of losses and options can be prepared and delivered to clients for each case.
Examples of services provided include mediation of disputes
between applicators and property owners, and between neighbors
regarding damage to existing plant materials caused by a variety
excavation, pruning practices, etc.
To accurately diagnose herbicide injury, one must know the signs
Grapevines, tomato plants, and redbud trees are some of the most
landowners spraying herbicides must be aware of the adverse
effect herbicide drift may have on nearby non-target plants.
Different herbicides may show different symptoms depending
on the plant injured, timing, mode of action and fate of the
herbicide, the dose applied, and other factors that interact
and complicate the diagnosis.
Some of these include insect and disease damage, diverse weather such as frost damage and drought, soil compaction, root stress or damage, improper soil pH, misapplied fertilizers, ice-melting or de-icing salt, moisture stress, genetic mutations, and other factors.
In the courtroom, Dr. Everhart's demeanor conveys self-confidence but not arrogance. He is polite but not patronizing. His appearance is well dressed but not flashy or slick. His testimony and sworn statements are based on his own experiences and research in addition to laboratory results, literature reviews, extension publications, published research, and findings of the Spray Drift Task Force for ground and aerial application.
Dr. Everhart communicates facts to the jurors in an unbiased, objective, and credible way, without being perceived as an advocate. He speaks with good diction and proper grammar, without slang, and in concise sentences. He gets directly to the point without sounding blunt. He explains complicated concepts in easy to understand ways that makes sense to a lay audience, without appearing patronizing. Before each case, he prepares extensively and thoroughly rehearses his testimony. But, in the courtroom, he appears spontaneous and unrehearsed but precise and accurate.
Because Dr. Everhart provides an unbiased evaluation of each incident and shares research-based information, the cases that he works on are most often resolved out-of-court with settlements that are satisfactory to all parties. With his help, it is often possible to avoid protracted, expensive, and divisive litigation. If you find yourself involved in a herbicide drift situation, please contact us or have your attorney contact us as early as possible in the process.
A non-refundable retainer fee and a signed Expert Witness Agreement is required prior to the client (or the client's attorney) declaring Dr. Everhart as an expert witness in legal cases.
Office: 712-254-4035
Cell: 712-249-3868
Confidentiality - Everhart Horticulture Consulting (EHC) respects the privacy of our clients. If you provide EHC with personal information it will be held in confidence. EHC does not sell, lease, rent, or share our client's individual personal information or business information without explicit consent from our clients. EHC may tally but does not record site visits, cookies, or other personal information from visits to our website. EHC does not collect information via this website to share with other programs, agencies, individuals, or businesses. EHC is committed to providing a secure, sharing, user-friendly, and mutually beneficial relationship with our clients.
Endorsement - References, advertisements, and links to websites on this website do not imply endorsement or approval of products, processes, or services by Everhart Horticulture Consulting (EHC). This non-endorsement policy includes all products and services other than those offered specifically by EHC. Any reference on this website to any other products, processes, or services does not constitute or imply an endorsement by EHC.
Liability - Everhart Horticulture Consulting (EHC) assume no liability for inaccuracies, misstatements, errors, or outdated information on this website. Everhart Horticulture Consulting (EHC) does not makes any warranty, express or implied, for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, advice, or services included on this website or by email, telephone, Skype, or during in-person consultations, or on other websites or documents that are linked to this website. The views and opinions expressed or implied on this website do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of EHC.
Everhart Horticulture Consulting - In the statements above and everywhere else on this website, the name "Everhart Horticulture Consulting" and the abbreviation "EHC" refer to Eldon Everhart, Lindsey Everhart, Sydney Everhart, and all owners, partners, and employees of this business.