This week I’ve been asked to represent people in two seperate falling tree cases. One tree fell onto a moving car as it was travelling down a city street. It totalled the vehicle and injured the occupants. The other tree fell onto a mobile home and severely injured a person inside. We hired an expert arborist to examine the trees in question and document their conditions as well as the trees around it. The owners of the trees claim an act of god defense saying excessive winds blew them down. We responded by showing that this is the only tree that fell and there were no broken limbs on the other trees either. Also, the trees were hollow inside and had been rotten for a long time. But, the question is was the rotten condition of the tree known to the owner. Was it open and obvious from external view. So, it is very important after a tree fall to take pictures of the condition of the tree and the surrounding trees in the area. Also, quickly contact an attorney who can hire an expert arborist and together they can preserve the evidence before it disappears. An expert is needed to determine why the tree fell. This expert can also explain the state of deterioration of the tree and how it must have been showing signs of deterioratioh for a long time. Those signs include falling limbs and openings in the tree. But, the main issue that arises is the tree will be hauled away and the evidence will be lost if quick axtion is not taken after a tree fall.