Expert Witness Services

Current, Recent and Notable Cases

• Walcott, Iowa, 2024. Mr. Steele was engaged to prepare an appraisal of the world’s largest truck stop by the Scott County Assessor. The appraisal is being prepared with consideration to Iowa Case Law and assessment regulations in Iowa. The appraisal is underway prior to potential litigation.
• Belgrade, Montana, 2024. Mr. Steele was engaged by a plaintiff in a case involving a self-storage facility with several VRBO residential properties and an industrial building. The case relates to the plaintiff’s right of first refusal to acquire the property, which was listed for sale two years after its sale at a substantially higher price. The appraisal is underway in advance of depositions and hearings.
• Guthrie County, Iowa, 2024. Mr. Steele was engaged to prepare an appraisal of a lakefront hotel and restaurant by the Guthrie County Board of Review. The appraisal is being prepared with consideration to Iowa Case Law and assessment regulations in Iowa. The appraisal is underway prior to potential litigation.
• Burlington, Iowa 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged to prepare an appraisal of a Hy-Vee Supermarket and a Kohl’s store by the Des Moines County Assessor. He advised the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. The appraisals are underway with hearings expected in 2024.
• Bent vs. Under, Marinette County, Wisconsin Circuit Court, 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged by the plaintiff’s counsel to prepare an appraisal of the fee simple interest of a residential property, with an additional appraisal of the residence as personal property to be moved from the site. The case is ongoing.
• Palmyra, Wisconsin, 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged by the plaintiff’s counsel in S&R Egg Farms, Inc. Plaintiff, vs. Cottingham & Butler Insurance Services, Inc. The case is in the Walworth County Circuit Court. The case involves a forensic analysis of building improvements that were destroyed in a fire and their relationship to the insured improvements. The case is ongoing.
• Council Bluffs, Iowa, 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged by the Pottawattamie County Board of Review to prepare an appraisal of a 17-screen theater property in advance of testimony at a hearing relating to the assessment of the property. The appraisal was completed, and Mr. Steele testified in a trial in September 2023.
• Clinton, Iowa, 2023. Mr. Steele was hired to prepare an appraisal of the Wild Rose Casino and Hotel in Clinton, Iowa for the Clinton County Assessor. He will advise the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. A hearing is expected in 2024.
• North Liberty, Iowa, 2023. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of the Heartland Equipment Union Corporate Headquarters property for the Johnson County Assessor. He advised the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. The case was settled prior to the trial in September 2023.
• Council Bluffs, Iowa 2022-2023. Mr. Steele was engaged to prepare an appraisal of the Ameristar Hotel-Casino, which also includes a Holiday Inn and a Hampton Inn on ground lease parcels. He was hired by the Pottawattamie County Board of Review, which expects the case to be contested following completion of the appraisal, which was delivered in January 2023. A hearing is scheduled for 2024.
• North Liberty, Iowa, 2023. Mr. Steele prepared appraisals (two years) of the GreenState Credit Union Corporate Headquarters property for the Johnson County Assessor. He advised the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. A trial is scheduled for August 2023.
• Council Bluffs, Iowa 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged to prepare an appraisal of a Hy-Vee Supermarket. He was hired by the Pottawattamie County Board of Review. He advised the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. The case was settled in October 2023 prior to the trial.
• Iowa City, Iowa, 2023. Mr. Steele prepared appraisals (two years) of the ACT Corporate Headquarters property for the Iowa City Assessor. He advised the client about his interpretation of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignment. A trial is scheduled for September 2024.
• Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, 2023. Mr. Steele was engaged by counsel representing the property owner and insurance companies in a case involving damages that were incurred to a hotel as a result of a fire. In addition to the diminution in value attributable to the physical damages, the appraisal considered the financial damages that resulted from the loss of revenue. Mr. Steele gas a deposition in September 2023. The case is ongoing.
• Bird Dog Hospitality vs. the City of Madison, 2022. Mr. Steele was engaged to provide appraisals for a two-year assessment appeal involving a hotel in the City of Madison. The case is being litigated in Dane County Circuit Court. The appraisals were completed, and the case is ongoing with depositions and a trial expected in 2023.
• Lake Geneva, Wisconsin 2022, Patricia Kachur and Bohdan Kachur, Plaintiffs, vs. Serendipity & Sunsets, LLC, Defendants. Mr. Steele was hired by the law firm that represents the defendant in a case concerning a possible diminution in value to the dominate estate owned by the Plaintiffs as a result of changes made to an access easement that abuts the Defendants’ property, which leads to Geneva Lake. Mr. Steele prepared an expert report and appraisal concerning the diminution in value or lack thereof. He also reviewed depositions by the Plaintiffs and the Plaintiffs’ expert and advised counsel as to their merits relative to the allegation. The case was dismissed with prejudice.
• Bettendorf, Iowa 2022. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of a Home Depot and a Hilton Garden Inn for the Scott County Assessor. He advised the client about the application of Iowa case law and assessment regulations as they related to the specific appraisal assignments. Home Depot dropped the appeal and the Hilton Garden Inn case was settled.
• Madison, Wisconsin 2022. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of a dual-branded hospitality property for an assessment appeal on behalf of the property owner. The project involved multiple years of assessments. The case was settled.
• Monona, Wisconsin 2022. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of a limited-service hotel for an assessment appeal on behalf of the property owner. A deposition occurred in April 2022. The case was settled.
• Swanson Towers Condominium Association v. the City of Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska, 2022. Mr. Steele is engaged by the condominium association to develop an opinion of damages to the association and the unit owners as a result of a road widening project that will impair access to the common parking garage for the association. The case was settled in August 2023.
• Jeffrey S. Gaines, Carol M. Gaines, The Jeffrey S. Gaines Revocable Living Trust, and the Carol M. Gaines Revocable Living Trust vs. Solidifi, Professional Appraisal Services, LLC and ABE Insurance Co., Circuit Court of Racine County, Wisconsin). Mr. Steele was the expert witness in a case involving a case against an appraisal management company and an insurance company regarding the procurement of an appraisal by a lender for a second opinion on a property that was subject to a potential loan. Mr. Steele provided an expert report regarding the appropriateness of the lender procuring the appraisal and the appropriateness of the “One Unit Residential Appraisal Field Review Report” completed by the bank’s appraiser. Mr. Steele also performed a review of the “One Unit Residential Appraisal Field Review Report” prepared by the bank’s appraiser. The clients prevailed with a summary judgment.
• Dean Alloway, Plaintiff vs. Timothy D. Schiewe, Defendant, Waushara County Circuit Court, Wautoma, Wisconsin 2021. Mr. Steele is the expert witness in a case involving diminution in value and damages to a property due to the construction of spite structures along the property line and a resulting impairment of views. He has prepared an appraisal of the property. Mr. Steele was deposed for the case in October 2021 and testified in the trial in June 2022. The jury awarded damages in excess of the damage estimate in Mr. Steele’s appraisal.
• Tampa, Florida 2021. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of a religious property, which includes both a K-12 school and house of worship for litigation purposes. The case is concerned with a denominational requirement about the ownership of real estate when a house of worship is closed and a restrictive covenant regarding the operation of the school. As part of the process, Mr. Steele advised counsel concerning the contributory value of improvements as they relate to an equitable lien on the real property. The case was settled favorably for the plaintiff (client).
• Walworth County, Wisconsin, 2020. Mr. Steele was the expert witness in a case where a property owner is suing an adjacent property owner with an allegation that tree-topping on the plaintiff’s lot resulted in a value enhancement on the defendant’s lot due to enhanced views of Geneva Lake. The case was dismissed.
• Davenport, Iowa, 2020. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of the Rhythm City hotel/casino for an assessment appeal. He worked closely with counsel in the application of case law relevant to the appraisal process for this owner-occupied property. The case was settled favorably for the client.
• Confidential, Illinois, 2020. Mr. Steele was hired by a title insurance company to complete an appraisal on two pipeline easements across an improved refinery property. The appraisals followed a judicial order establishing the easements, but not their dimensions. As part of the appraisal, Mr. Steele prepared a review of literature on the width of easements, as well as consideration of the history of the property being appraised and of adjacent properties in estimating the dimensions of the easements. The case was settled.
• Various locations in Iowa, 2020. Mr. Steele prepared appraisals of three biodiesel plants and a corporate office on behalf of an energy company. All four appraisals are assessment appeals with the expectation of adversarial hearings. The cases were settled favorably for the client.
• DiCristina Holdings, LLC v. First American Title Insurance Company, Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, 2019. Mr. Steele was engaged to complete retrospective appraisals of a commercial property with and without an easement for a title insurance claim. He also served as a litigation consultant in this case and advised the attorney on the merits and weaknesses of the opponents’ appraisal and consulted on the deposition of an expert witness. He was deposed on the case, which was settled immediately before the trial.
• Indianapolis, Indiana. 2017. Mr. Steele prepared appraisals for a full-service hotel that underwent renovations during the four-year time frame for which appraisals were prepared. The appraisals were prepared for assessment appeals that were settled favorably shortly before an adversarial hearing.
• Cushman & Wakefield, Inc. v. Illinois National Insurance Company, Ace American Insurance Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and RLI Insurance Company, United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois Eastern Division, 2017-2018. Mr. Steele was an expert witness in a case involving multiple insurance companies by a national appraisal company over claims against errors and omissions policies. In this capacity, he has examined appraisals of master planned communities throughout the country and abroad involving assets in excess of $10 billion and opined on valuation methodology and the credibility of the appraisals. He gave a deposition on the matter as a rebuttal witness. After the deposition, the court ordered a summary judgment in favor of Mr. Steele’s client, the insurance company.
• Yorkville, Illinois, 2015-2020. Mr. Steele worked with a law firm and a title insurance company as the expert witness for case involving a claim relating to the recovery of special assessments from a developer. Bonds that were sold to finance the infrastructure improvements in a special assessment district and the amounts recovered from the developer are dependent on the change in assessed valuation within the special assessment district. As part of the process, he prepared an expert report on the value of the special assessments, an appraisal of the real property, gave several depositions, consulted on a deposition of a witness and reviewed appraisal reports. The case was settled in 2020.
• Confidential, State of Indiana, 2009. Mr. Steele was the expert retained by the property owner for a lawsuit seeking to recover damages due to misrepresentation of facts in a commercial real estate transaction in Indianapolis. Services included preparation of an appraisal of the property and strategic advice for the owners’ counsel regarding real estate matters.
• Arbors of Branch Creek, 2007. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of the fee simple interest of the remaining 370 units in a 390-unit condominium conversion in Tampa, Florida for a law firm working on behalf of a lender. The appraisal was used for pre-foreclosure purposes. In addition to the appraisal, real estate counseling was provided to the attorneys working on the case about issues concerning the real estate and the possible bankruptcy filing of the developer.
• Old Wayne County Building, Detroit, Michigan,2006. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of the leasehold interest in a historically significant former courthouse building in downtown Detroit. The appraisal was part of a strategic analysis for potential litigation against the owners of the leasehold interest for recovery of certain expenses and a fraudulent lease arrangement. In addition to preparing an appraisal of the asset, Mr. Steele advised counsel regarding the nature of the real property interest, fraudulent representations of the nature of the real property relating to building measurement, the relative merits of the leased fee and leasehold positions, as well as the reversionary value of the real property at the conclusion of the ground lease. This information was incorporated into the legal strategy for recovering funds from the partnership.
• Schaumburg Corporate Center, LLC v. Cook County, 2001. Worked with counsel on an assessment appeal for a 600,000-square foot suburban office property. The case was settled one day before trial. Mr. Steele prepared the initial appraisal of the property and advised counsel during the pre-trial period relating to real estate trends and positions taken by the county.
• Naples Shores Country Club (d/i/p), 1991. Mr. Steele worked on behalf of the debtor in possession for the bankruptcy reorganization of the ownership entity. The case was in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Northern District of Illinois. Services provided included the preparation of an appraisal and advising the debtor in possession and counsel about the reasonableness of the marketing and sales program, as well as pricing and yield rates, as it related to the restructuring of debt. The debt was restructured.
• FDIC v. Wiggins Bay Yacht & Racquet Club, 1991-1992. Federal District Court, Fort Myers, Florida. Mr. Steele worked on behalf of the defendants relating to the value of a several development sites and submerged land intended for boat slips in Naples, Florida. The FDIC sought a deficiency judgment against the defendants. Mr. Steele prepared an appraisal of the real property, reviewed other appraisals of the property, advised counsel on the case and gave expert testimony in depositions and federal court. The judge awarded a judgment against the defendants.