Expert Witness Services

Deathcare and mortuary law disputes are rarely straightforward. They frequently involve multiple entities—funeral homes, crematories, transport services, cemeteries, and third-party contractors—each with different responsibilities, recordkeeping systems, and regulatory obligations.

Attorney Simon has experience analyzing these layered relationships and identifying where breakdowns occurred, including failures in identification procedures, chain of custody protocols, documentation, and supervision. He evaluates how the facts align with professional standards and legal duties, and he develops a litigation strategy designed to prove what happened, why it happened, and how it violated the obligations owed to the family.

Attorney Simon understands the standards of care that govern the handling of human remains from first custody through final disposition. This includes procedures and safeguards involving:

• Identification and verification (ensuring the correct decedent is handled at every stage),
• Chain of custody (documenting each transfer and maintaining continuity of possession),
• Condition, storage, and preservation (including refrigeration protocols, timing concerns, and prevention of deterioration),
• Documentation and authorizations (confirming proper permits, family directives, and legally required forms),
• Quality control and internal checks (preventing misidentification, mix-ups, or unauthorized actions).

In litigation, these standards are often proven through facility policies, regulatory requirements, witness testimony, industry guidelines, and—when appropriate—expert opinion regarding accepted funeral service practices.

Cemetery disputes can involve highly technical factual questions and record-based proof. Attorney Simon understands how misburials happen and how they are litigated, including errors involving:

• Wrong plot or wrong location burials, including incorrect section/lots or mapping errors,
• Grave marker or headstone discrepancies, inconsistent plot records, or misfiled interment authorizations,
• Disinterment and corrective procedures, including the additional duties that arise when a cemetery must remedy an error,
• Oversight and contractor issues, such as mistakes by excavation teams or third-party installers.

These cases often require reconstructing the paper trail, locating the relevant diagrams and interment logs, and comparing what was authorized versus what was performed.

Attorney Simon also understands claims involving negligent preservation, refrigeration, and preparation for viewing—issues that can arise from inadequate training, improper technique, poor facility practices, or failure to follow timelines appropriate for the circumstances. These matters may involve:

• Inadequate refrigeration or delays that lead to advanced stages of decomposition, and
• Failure to follow family instructions or reasonable professional expectations regarding presentation and care.

In litigation, the issue is not simply whether an outcome was upsetting—it is whether the conduct fell below professional standards and caused foreseeable harm.

Cremation cases are particularly sensitive because mistakes are often irreversible. Attorney Simon understands the issues that frequently drive these claims, such as:

• Cremation without proper authorization,
• Cremation of the wrong individual (misidentification),
• Failure to follow required verification procedures before cremation,
• Improper handling or commingling concerns, and failures to maintain appropriate documentation and controls.

These cases often turn on process failures: whether identity checks, paperwork, and chain-of-custody procedures were followed consistently and competently.

Deathcare work is regulated, and disputes can involve licensing and compliance issues that impact accountability. Attorney Simon understands how licensing and professional regulations factor into legal claims, including:

• Compliance with professional rules governing funeral directors, embalmers, and establishments,
• Facility operational requirements, supervision rules, and recordkeeping duties,
• Conduct that may be relevant to negligence or statutory claims, even when a matter also has an administrative or disciplinary dimension.

Attorney Simon is familiar with the legal concepts that govern a family’s rights to possess and control a loved one’s remains—often described as quasi-property rights. In practice, these cases can involve disputes over:

• Who has the legal authority to make disposition decisions,
• Whether a provider complied with the legally authorized person’s directives,
• Interference with the family’s rights through mishandling, misidentification, unauthorized disposition, or loss of remains.

He evaluates authority and consent issues carefully because they often become central liability questions in mortuary cases.

Mortuary law cases require more than knowing the rules—they require the ability to explain technical procedures and institutional failures in a way that is clear, credible, and appropriate to the setting. Attorney Simon is experienced in presenting complicated facts to judges and juries by:

• Simplifying technical process failures into understandable steps and checkpoints,
• Using documents and timelines (permits, authorizations, custody logs, cemetery maps, policies),
• Working with experts when needed to explain standards and causation,
• Building a narrative that is fact-driven, respectful, and persuasive—showing how the failures occurred and why they matter under the law.