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Mealey's Daubert

  • November 08, 2024

    Pa. Federal Magistrate: Rebuttal Witness On Life-Care Needs Can Testify

    PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal magistrate judge denied a motion filed by a family injured in an accident to exclude the testimony of an expert hired to rebut the report of the family’s life-care planning experts.

  • November 06, 2024

    Colorado High Court: Lack Of Formal Acceptance Does Not Bar Expert Testimony

    DENVER — The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that an expert witness is not required under the state’s rules of evidence or case law to be formally offered and accepted as an expert for the testimony to be admissible, reversing a court of appeals ruling that overturned a murder conviction.

  • November 05, 2024

    2nd Circuit Affirms Finding That Ed Sheeran Didn’t Infringe Marvin Gaye Song

    NEW YORK — A 2014 hit single from English pop star Ed Sheeran did not infringe on the copyright related to a 1973 song from Marvin Gaye, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a New York federal judge’s finding of noninfringement.

  • November 05, 2024

    Mo. Federal Judge Finds Expert Testimony Not Relevant In Wrongful Death Case

    ST. LOUIS — Because a Missouri federal judge had previously granted a retail store summary judgment on a negligence claim against it in a wrongful death suit stemming from the drowning of a child in an aboveground pool, he ruled that the testimony from two experts is no longer relevant.

  • November 04, 2024

    Federal Judge: Case Alleging Injury From Falling Sign In Target Moves Forward

    NEW ORLEANS — An expert retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured by a falling sign in a Target store is qualified to testify and his opinions are relevant, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled, also rejecting Target’s motion for summary judgment after finding that whether the company is liable is in dispute.

  • November 04, 2024

    Judge Asks Parties To Consider Alternative Resolution To Stay Of Crypto Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — Days after ruling on four motions to exclude expert testimony in a securities case involving crypto tokens, a federal judge in California responded to a joint motion for entry of final judgment and asked the parties to consider an alternative resolution.

  • November 01, 2024

    Split Panel: Silicosis Case Fails Due To Plaintiff’s Unreliable Experts

    HOUSTON — A split Texas appeals court panel on Oct. 31 affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of Exxon Mobil Corp. in a silica injury lawsuit brought by a worker who sandblasted railcars and contended that he developed pulmonary fibrosis because the company created a situation in which he had to perform an “intrinsically unsafe and ultrahazardous activity.”  The panel held that the worker’s experts were not reliable.

  • October 30, 2024

    Judge Bars Economics Expert In Avandia Third-Party Payer’s Bid For Class Action

    PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing the Avandia multidistrict litigation agreed with GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) that an economic expert retained by third-party payers who bought the diabetes pill and are seeking class certification cannot testify under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • October 24, 2024

    Challenge To Summary Judgment, Exclusion Ruling In ERISA Fees Row Is Dropped

    PHILADELPHIA — An appeal of a summary judgment and expert exclusion ruling in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees has been dismissed with prejudice under a stipulation filed in the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • October 22, 2024

    Experts Featured In Mealey's Daubert Report

    Entries are ordered in alphabetical order of the expert in each area of expert testimony.  Experts appeared in the May, June, July, August, September and October 2024 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.

  • October 22, 2024

    Federal Judge Allows Experts For Both Sides To Testify In Trade Secrets Suit

    OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge largely denied three motions to exclude expert testimony filed in a trade secrets dispute stemming from a case filed by a transportation broker for agricultural products against former employees who left to join a competitor.

  • October 22, 2024

    R.I. Justice: Experts Retained In Take-Home Asbestos Exposure Case Can Testify

    PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island Superior Court justice largely refused to exclude two experts from testifying for the estate of a woman who claims that she contracted mesothelioma as a result of laundering her husband’s work clothes after finding that the experts’ conclusions that are based on the “each and every exposure” theory” are admissible under state law.

  • October 22, 2024

    No Error In Exclusion Of Expert During Murder Trial, Indiana Appeals Court Holds

    INDIANAPOLIS — There was no abuse in discretion in a trial court’s decision to exclude an expert on gunshot residue because he was unqualified to opine on procedures at a criminal laboratory, the Indiana Court of Appeals court held, affirming a man’s conviction for murder.

  • October 22, 2024

    Iowa Federal Judge Denies Motion To Exclude Expert In FLSA Bench Trial

    CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — An Iowa federal judge said that because a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dispute will be resolved through a bench trial, excluding certain testimony from an expert witness retained to opine on damages is unnecessary.

  • October 21, 2024

    Causation Experts In Deepwater Injury Case Properly Excluded, 11th Circuit Says

    ATLANTA — A district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding two experts retained by men who allege that they were injured as a result of exposure to crude oil and dispersants during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and granting summary judgment in favor of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 18.

  • October 21, 2024

    Expert Can Testify In Bench Trial Over Alleged Discriminatory Rental Policies

    INDIANAPOLIS — While recognizing a housing management’s concerns about an expert’s testimony in a case alleging that its policies violated state and federal fair housing laws, an Indiana federal magistrate judge denied a motion to exclude and ruled that the expert can testify at the upcoming bench trial.

  • October 18, 2024

    Michigan Appeals Court Finds No Abuse Of Discretion In Excluding Medical Expert

    DETROIT — A Michigan trial court did not err in granting summary disposition to the defendants in a woman’s medical malpractice suit after finding that the woman’s expert failed to meet the admissibility standards under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and state law, a Michigan appeals court panel held.

  • October 17, 2024

    Panel Issues Split Ruling In Tire Trade Dress Suit On Discovery, Daubert, Privilege

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-running trade dress dispute between two tire companies, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel partly affirmed a trial court ruling, deeming the asserted trade dress functional and, therefore, not protectable and upholding discovery sanctions and expert testimony exclusion, while reversing in part by finding that litigation privilege barred the defendant’s counterclaims.

  • October 16, 2024

    Judge Rules Fingerprint Identification Expert Can Testify In Robbery Trial

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fingerprint identification expert can testify in a man’s criminal robbery case, a New Mexico federal judge ruled, rejecting a man’s motion to exclude her testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • October 15, 2024

    AI Evidence Requires Frye Hearing, New York Surrogate Court Judge Says

    BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — Given the inherent reliability issues of any evidence created through the use of artificial intelligence, any such use requires not only court disclosure but a Frye hearing, a New York surrogate court judge said while ruling that he could not blindly accept an expert’s AI-based damages calculations.

  • October 15, 2024

    Judge Admits Marine Engineering Expert In Asbestos Sovereign Immunity Case

    NEW ORLEANS — After denying reconsideration and precluding a man from relying on a settled party’s experts, a federal judge in Louisiana turned away challenges to a marine engineering expert, saying the expert’s knowledge about Navy shipbuilding practices and asbestos is likely to be helpful to a jury on the issue of derivative sovereign immunity.

  • October 11, 2024

    3rd Circuit: No Error In Forensic Accounting Expert Testimony, Attorney Fees

    PHILADELPHIA — There was no error in a district court’s ruling that allowed a forensic accountant to testify as an expert witness in a breach of fiduciary duty case or in its award of attorney fees, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.

  • October 11, 2024

    Wash. Federal Judge: Expert Can Opine On Claims Handling In Suit Against Insurer

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled that a woman’s claims handling expert can testify in her suit against her insurer after finding that he meets the admissibility standards under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Federal Rule of Evidence 702 but cautioned that testimony that offers legal conclusions is prohibited.

  • October 10, 2024

    Judge Largely Denies Bid To Seal Order Certifying Class In Gun Barrel Defect Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion to seal his recent order certifying a class action accusing the manufacturers of Glock handguns of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to warn consumers of an alleged barrel defect, agreeing to seal one sentence but finding that the other disputed information in the ruling was already “discussed in the public hearing.”

  • October 09, 2024

    Testimony On Child’s Sexual Abuse OK’d In Case Against School Board, Bus Monitor

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a motion to exclude testimony based on a forensic child sexual abuse interview after finding that the expert’s testimony is reliable and will assist a jury, also citing the expert’s previously allowed testimony in related cases.