Tree Appraisal Workshop - Fort Lauderdale, FL

Friday October 3, 2014
Holiday Park - Social Center
1150 G. Harold Martin Drive
Fort Lauderdale, FL  33304

CEUs: 
ISA - 6.25     BCMA(M) - 6.25     FNGLA - 4     LIAF - 4

Tree Appraisal explained... and put to practice. Remember to bring along a CALCULATOR to use during portions of the seminar.

If tree appraisal is part of your job description or even if you just want to learn more about it, this seminar is not to be missed! Taught by leading experts in the art and science of tree appraisal.  As a tree expert you are often called on to defend the many facets of our industry, including tree appraisal.  Here is your opportunity to learn the theory behind practice of tree appraisal.

After this seminar you will be better equipped to defend your position as an expert. The workshop format provides participants the opportunity to work in groups to appraise trees and discuss their findings. This educational offering will provide you with actual court rulings on every-day appraisal methodology used to value trees.

AGENDA

8:00 - 8:30      
Registration - breakfast items available

8:30 – 10:00  
ABC’s of Appraising Trees - Joe Samnik, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants
Learn how to appraise a tree including accurate field work, tree assessment, selecting the correct appraisal approach, and finally putting a price on the tree.

10:00 – 10:15
Break with refreshments

10:15 – 11:00
Tree Appraisals from an Attorney’s View - Blake Gaylord, Gaylord Merlin Ludovici & Diaz
Nothing in the plant appraisal community will define your success like the wisdom of attorneys who specialize in the plant appraisal legal process.  These legal professionals have grappled with every approach used in plant appraisals and have firsthand knowledge of successful outcomes.

11:00 – 12:00 
You be the Judge - Joe Samnik, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants
This informal, interactive workshop will offer you the opportunity to appraise trees and plants which have already either been litigated or mediated.  Compare your approach to value and your appraisal answers with the actual case outcomes.

12:00 – 12:45 
Lunch, provided                                                             

12:45 – 2:30   
You be the Appraiser - Lori Ballard, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants and Norm Easey, Urban Forestry Consulting
Get out those calculators! In this session Lori and Norm will lead small groups in an indoor/outdoor exercise to collect data on local trees, the data will be combined with the facts of the case and the attendee will prepare an appraisal opinion. Opinions will be discussed with the class and the merits of each opinion evaluated.

2:30 – 2:45     
Break with refreshments

2:45 – 4:00     
Making Your Opinion Stick - Joe Samnik, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants
Now that you have appraised the plants, learn the 10 rules to making your opinion stick. 

4:00                
Adjourn and Sign for CEUs

MEET OUR EXPERTS!

Our team of experts will bring you up to speed on tree appraisal...

LORI BALLARD is a partner in the practice of, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants, LLC. She is the Treasurer of the Florida Chapter, ISA Board of Directors and is the Chair of the Education Committee, Finance Committee and the Florida Chapter Species Rating Committee. Her expertise in the fields of neighbor law and eminent domain have been the architect in the settlement of million dollar and multi-million dollar business damage claims providing evidence of deception and error that lead to settlements and verdicts in federal and eminent domain courts of law. Lori was a presenter at last year’s Florida American Society of Landscape Architects Annual conference and spoke on the subject of eminent domain plant and tree appraisals she also spoke at Trees Florida on the subject of tree appraisals. Lori is a certified arborist, FNGLA Certified Horticulture Professional and has the ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida.

NORM EASEY has been an active member of ISA for 29 years and is a charter member of the Florida Chapter of ISA.  He is a long-standing member of the Society of Municipal Arborists, and has been active in urban forest management in Florida since receiving his bachelors’ degree in Forestry/Resource Management in 1980 from the University of Wisconsin. He is currently the Executive Director of the Florida Chapter ISA. He also has a part-time urban forestry consulting practice, wherein he specializes in hazard tree assessment and loss and urban forest management. For 18 years Norm was the Forestry Manager for Sarasota County, Florida and has also been a County Forester with the Florida Division of Forestry. Mr. Easey is a past Chairman of the Florida Urban Forestry Council and is also a long-standing member of Society of American Foresters.

BLAKE GAYLORD is a partner in the law firm of Gaylord Merlin Ludovici & Diaz which focuses its practice in the areas of eminent domain, inverse condemnation and other property rights matters. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Merchant Marine Academy in 1999 he served for five years as an officer in the United States Army as a Platoon Leader of an amphibious watercraft platoon, including service with the Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror.  Mr. Gaylord graduated from Stetson University College of Law in 2007, was recognized as Outstanding Graduate and earning first place in several trial competitions.  Mr. Gaylord is a member of The Florida Bar, the Hillsborough County Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, and the Florida Petroleum Marketing Association.  He has written articles for numerous outlets including legal publications, business journals, and trade magazines, and has spoken or presented before several legal and judicial conferences.  Additionally, he has been recognized by Florida Trend magazine as a “Florida Elite Up & Comer”, by Super Lawyers as a “Rising Star”, and has received Martindale-Hubbell’s AV Peer Review Rating, the highest rating given to attorneys.

JOE SAMNIK is entering his 46th year as a consulting arborist.   He is a partner in the practice of, Samnik & Ballard Expert Tree Consultants, LLC whose practice is limited to arboreal consulting and expert witness testimony.   Joe has been named as an expert witness in excess of 700 legal cases and testified in over 35 trials.   He has been accepted as an expert in federal, criminal, civil, eminent domain, and small claims courts.   He is the past president of the Association of Eminent Domain Professionals and founding president of the Florida Chapter, ISA.   His on-line courses through his business, Distance Learn Pro, are credited through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation for continuing education for landscape architects.  He authored Rule Chapter 14-40 of the Florida Statues which provides the formula for appraising road side trees and vegetation.  Joe is the recipient of the Edward Bok Award for lifetime excellence in the field of arboriculture and the 2013 President’s Award.  He has presented at over 80 annual, regional and national conferences Joe is licensed through the Office of Entomology to prescribe or treat pests of trees, lawns, and shrubs.

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