Litigation Support
When the case goes to court, rely on an RJA expert.
A fire or a security breach often creates the need for litigation. Establishing the cause and origin of the fire or security breach is only the first step in the resolution of the legal confrontation. Rolf Jensen & Associates (RJA) is the premier provider of fire protection engineering and security consulting services. So whether you’re the owner of the building, the insurance carrier, a systems manufacturer or the attorney for either the plaintiff or the defendant, we can help you establish the facts of the fire or security incident.
* Expert Testimony
* Fire Protection Engineering Code Consulting
* Forensic Fire and Smoke Modeling
* Fire Response Analysis
* Construction Claim Dispute Resolution
* Failure Analysis of Systems and Components
Learn more about our team of litigation support professionals:
Carl F. Baldassarra
Executive Vice-President, The RJA Group, Inc.
Professional Profile
Carl Baldassarra is responsible for the development of the RJA practice, including project delivery, project management, services development and technology. He also participates on project teams involving fire protection/life safety analysis, code consultation, fire protection system design, loss investigation and litigation support. Baldassarra moved to RJA in 2009 from Schirmer Engineering Corporation where he had been the President for 16 years.
In his 39-year career in fire protection engineering, he has participated as an organizational member, committee member, committee chair, advisor and board member of the leading fire protection engineering and code making organizations. He is also a prolific author who has published more than 40 papers and articles on fire protection, life safety and loss prevention.
Craig E. Hofmeister, P.E., LEED® AP
Senior Vice-President, The RJA Group, Inc.
Professional Profile
Craig Hofmeister serves as RJA’s head of engineering technology with responsibility for the technical direction of the firm’s engineering practice and its performance-based design and fire modeling capabilities. He has conducted fire modeling/hazard analyses including fire growth, smoke movement, heat transfer and structural analysis, suppression system effectiveness, and failure analysis for both performance-based design and reconstruction scenarios.
A 17-year veteran of RJA, Hofmeister is a leading authority on fire protection design for LEED applications and has published and presented numerous technical papers on “green” building alternative design, heat transfer and thermo-structural modeling, special hazards fire modeling, halon replacement strategies and computer room/broadcast studio protection…
Thomas C. Brown, P.E.
President, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. Executive Vice-President, U.S. Operations
Professional Profile
Thomas Brown has more than 25 years experience in fire protection engineering. His expertise, as both a technical resource and project manager, includes building and life safety code consulting; fire alarm and fire suppression systems design and evaluation; post-fire forensic analysis; life safety systems construction management and construction claims resolution. His litigation experience has been gained on more than 48 cases in which he has provided depositions, forensic fire engineering and/or expert witness testimony.
Brown began his career as a firefighter for the District of Columbia and has served his local Fire and Rescue Department for 32 years, 16 of those years as the corporate president…
Richard W. Bukowski, P.E., FSFPE
Senior Consultant, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.
Professional Profile
Richard Bukowski is a Senior Consultant with the Baltimore office of RJA. He joined RJA in 2009 after retiring from the federal government after 35 years as a research fire protection engineer. His responsibilities included coordination with the U.S. and international building regulatory and technical standards communities as they considered changes based on the research conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Bukowski’s work with RJA currently includes projects worldwide that involve code compliance such as performance-based design; fire hazard and fire risk analysis; fire alarm systems…
Michael A. Crowley, P.E., FSFPE, SASHE
Senior Vice President, The RJA Group, Inc.
Professional Profile
Michael Crowley, who joined RJA in 1980, is the company’s leading expert in the field of life safety and fire protection for hospitals and healthcare facilities. In this role, he has conducted code compliance surveys of existing facilities, developed fire protection master plans for new facilities and designed fire sprinkler, detection, alarm, smoke control and voice communication systems.
Crowley is an instructor for NFPA’s Life Safety Code Course. He is qualified to conduct Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) and Statement of Condition (SOC) surveys of hospitals, nursing homes, detention facilities, and office buildings…
Jonathan M. Eisenberg, P.E.
Associate Manager, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.
Professional Profile
Jonathan Eisenberg is the Associate Manager in the Boston, MA office of Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. (RJA). He has over nine years of fire protection engineering and eleven years of chemical processing plant experience, including process engineering and production management/engineering. His recent consulting experience includes fire protection requirements for hazardous materials use and storage in high-hazard, clean rooms, chemical plant processing, and laboratory applications and specification of fire protection features for hazardous materials storage and process areas including: sprinkler design basis, ventilation, explosion control, electrical classification, control area design, NFPA 45 laboratory unit design and NFPA 30 flammable liquid storage…
Stephen Hill, P.E.
Senior Consultant, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc.
Professional Profile
Stephen Hill joined RJA in 2009 after spending 12 years as a fire research and protection engineer. As a member of the U.S. Department of Justice, Hill was intimately involved in the startup of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Fire Research Laboratory. He has extensive experience in the application of scientific and engineering principles in the forensic support of fire investigations. Hill has worked closely with ATF Certified Fire Investigators in the investigation of both arson and accidental fires, provided on-site technical investigative support and advice to law enforcement agents, U.S. attorneys and district attorneys, and conducted research and testing on the prediction of fire hazard development and response of materials to fire…
Thomas Izbicki, P.E.
Operations Manager, Rolf Jensen & Associates, Inc. - Dallas Office
Professional Profile
Thomas Izbicki came to RJA in 2006 from the Dallas Fire Service where he was the senior fire protection engineer responsible for review and approval of fire protection system plans and issues related to enforcement of the Dallas Building and Fire Codes. He also reviewed and approved contractor submittals, performance-based design, conducted evaluations for fire operations and provided recommendation on a structure’s fitness for rehabilitation or demolition.
Izbicki has completed specialized training sponsored by the US Army Corp of Engineers and taught by Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) instructors to become qualified as an Urban Search and Rescue Structures specialist…
