“With the Corvette, I recognized that our cars would be put to the most severe test on racetracks around the world. Therefore, before I released a new model for production, my team and I took it to the racetrack ourselves where we ran simulated endurance races for as long as 24 hours. When our customers raced at the track, their Corvettes were ready. In the three years that production Corvettes raced against Porsches in SCCA Showroom Stock endurance racing, a Corvette won 19 out of 19 races.
“During the past several years, I have been engaged as a forensic engineer and expert witness on defects alleged for cars and trucks, as well as multiple patent infringement cases.
“If you are a plaintiff or defendant attorney on similar cases, I’d like to help you understand what happened and why.”
– Dave McLellan
Dave’s proven experience aptly applies to forensic engineering and serving as an expert witness and knowledge expert. Consider the three phases of forensic engineering:
Phase 1: Investigation
Investigation typically entails collecting evidence such as scene photographs, videos of the collision, measurement of the accident site, reviewing eyewitness testimony and legal depositions. Because racing and test track testing included accidents and accident investigation, these are activities Dave McLellan knows well, having perfected data collection and causation analysis over a thirty-three year career at General Motors.
Today, with anti-lock brakes and vehicle stability control, there may be no tell tale skid marks. Instead the vehicle event data recorder collects speed, braking, and other useful information leading up to during the event. Dave knows how to retrieve the available data and he knows how to interpret the stored information.
Phase 2: Analysis
Accident analysis includes processing the collected data, formation of hypotheses, creation of models to see whether they explain the outcome, and accident reconstruction using software.
As a former chief engineer of the Corvette, Dave McLellan uses his knowledge of physics, dynamics and engineering to perform his analysis. Understanding the conservation of linear momentum, work-energy methods, and accident kinematics as the basis for informed analysis and Dave expertly uses software to calculate useful quantities.
Phase 3: Presentation
While serving as the Chief Engineer of the Corvette for seventeen years, Dave McLellan had to sell his programs to management during a period of ever increasing competition for scarce resources, complex regulation and rapidly evolving technologies. Dave had to know the facts, be articulate, persuasive and able to field difficult questions on his feet. He had to persuade a combined audience of engineers, safety experts, finance experts and attorneys from the best schools—people who had accumulated years of program experience. Judge and jury combined, they were a tough crowd.
“I was the longest-serving chief engineer in the history of the Corvette. These are skills that I offer you as a knowledge expert and forensic engineer to serve you well in the courtroom,” Dave offers.
“I highly recommend Dave as an expert in the field of product liability consulting.”
“Dave McLellan’s reputation is well known in Detroit as the Chief Engineer of the Corvette. Since his retirement from GM, Dave has earned a well-deserved reputation as a highly qualified product liability expert, expert witness and consultant. Dave was brought in as my expert in an accident case where the driver was injured, the air bag did not deploy and the seat belt worn was not effective. On site inspection of the vehicle resulted in Dave uncovering a problem with the 3-point lap/shoulder belt that allowed the injury. I highly recommend Dave as an expert in the field of product liability consulting. I was very pleased with his services in this case. Dave understands that a plaintiff’s pocketbook is not Detroit’s, and he works within budget to provide excellent service and results. He is hands-on, practical, and provides a wealth of experience in the field of product failure, and with his many years in the automotive industry he has at his disposal the resources and expertise to provide a full package.”
– The Law Offices of Eric Kjorlie. Eric Kjorlie was the recipient of the prestigious Kansas top 10 attorney award in 2017.