Ken Musante, president of Napa Payments and Consulting, sent us the following note to augment information provided in "Call in the experts," published on our Readers Speak page, Nov. 14, 2022, issue 22:11:01.
"Experts are sometimes hired because each side may be making opposing claims and a judge or jury, with little knowledge of our industry, must make a determination. As you might expect, hiring an expert witness makes the process even more expensive, but it may be necessary. As an expert witness in industry cases, both criminal and civil, I have further insight into the process.
"Our industry is little understood by those outside of it, namely judges and juries. Making a claim that you were treated unfairly or in a manner inconsistent with industry practices requires that you clearly state what industry norms are. Industry contracts are full of terms like "acquirer," "industry standards," "processing," "card network rules" and "settlement." These terms are sometimes used to mean different things within our industry and are either not clear or not understood by those outside of our industry.
"I have a more complete blog available on this subject which you may read here:
https://napapaymentsandconsulting.com/blog/f/expert-testimony." You can reach out to Ken at kenmusante@gmail.com or 707-601-7656 if you have questions.
Adam Atlas, who also serves as an expert witness, touched upon this topic in "Oral promises and ISO contracts," The Green Sheet, April 13, 2015, issue 15:04:01. He mentioned that a significant amount of testimony in payments-related cases "involves explaining what an ISO is and how the acquiring industry works. To avoid surprises or the considerable expense of a trial over unpaid residuals, place less value on promises made and more on agreements signed."
Additional coverage of this topic is archived at www.greensheet.com/search.php?node=processSearch.
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