Our work usually first proceeds with a thorough review of the documents:
the complaint, drawings, specifications, use and manufacturing issues, engineering contracts, etc. We then produce a preliminary verbal opinion and review of the damage estimates that may already exist. After this process, and if the case status warrants it, a detailed design review can be performed with site visit, dimensional reviews, and calculations (we many times find other related issues such as excessive loads caused by use, misapplication, etc., that add cogent information to the case).
We also sometimes function only as an educational resource or consultant to others working on the same case. We are very familiar with commonly-used computer programs used within the mechanical design industry, which means we can likely enter a case at most any point in time.