Litigation Support Case Studies
Independent Laboratory Testing
A power plant was accused of not properly containing their fly ash (a finely divided mineral residue of inorganic incombustible material present in coal) The neighbors downwind of the power plant were concerned about potential air pollution and property damage. Samples of the potential pollutants were collected and sent to Chemir for identification. Following analysis by FTIR and SEM/EDXA, Chemir scientists could not detect any of the key ingredients of fly ash, such as heavy metals, other metals, silicon or aluminum. We found that very few of the samples contained anything that might potentially be fly ash, thus preventing legal action against the power plant.
Litigation Support for a Manufacturer
In a lawsuit against a glass-laminate manufacturer, an installation contractor claimed that incorrect product formulation was the cause of product failure. Our expert chemists performed a comparative analysis of a failed sample alongside a control sample. The glass-polyester laminates had experienced serious discoloration, degradation, delamination and hydrolysis. From the data, our scientists concluded that the manufacturer used an incorrect UV stabilizer along with an unstable polymer formulation. Chemir scientists presented this data and interpretations as expert witness testimony for our client, resulting in a positive outcome for our client.
Suspected Patent Infringement
An infringement of a patented component present in a product was suspected by a competitor, and Chemir was contacted as an independent testing laboratory. Random samples of the finished product were pulled at the manufacturing site, and samples were also obtained from product stored in inventory from various distributors for the product. Following testing of the present and past products, Chemir was able to determine that the manufacturer was not violating the competitor’s patented component. Our data, interpretations and conclusions contributed to successful resolution of the dispute.