Mealey's Daubert
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June 06, 2024
Judge Won’t Bar Experts, Admit Exhibits Ahead Of FTCA Asbestos Trial
SEATTLE — Facing an upcoming trial on take-home and environmental asbestos claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), a federal judge in Washington declined to preadmit certain exhibits or exclude expert testimony, finding the trio of motions premature or untimely.
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June 06, 2024
Judge Limits Testimony In Design Defect Case, Grants Partial Summary Judgment
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge partially dismissed a woman’s suit against a surgical stapler device manufacturer after finding that certain testimony from expert witnesses is inadmissible under the standards of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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June 05, 2024
Asbestos Plaintiffs Warn Of Expert Oversight Motion’s ‘Massive Chilling Effect’
TRENTON, N.J. — Allowing Johnson & Johnson to compel plaintiff-side expert William Longo to perform testing under the gaze of defense experts would be a “patently unreasonable” and unprecedented step and likely have a “massive chilling effect on expert witnesses,” plaintiffs in the federal multidistrict asbestos-talc litigation argue in opposing a motion to compel.
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June 04, 2024
Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs: Court Should Deny Bid To Prevent Expert’s Deposition
RALEIGH, N.C. — The plaintiffs leadership group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis litigation has filed an opposition brief in North Carolina federal court contending that because its expert, Christopher Portier, will provide “highly relevant testimony that is critical” to the case, the court should deny the U.S. government’s motion for a protective order to prevent Portier’s deposition.
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June 04, 2024
Florida Federal Judge Allows Expert Testimony In Asbestos Exposure Case
TAMPA, Fla. — Arguments made by the two remaining defendants in an asbestos exposure case failed to convince a Florida federal judge that testimony by the plaintiff’s expert is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., with the judge denying separate motions to exclude on June 3.
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June 04, 2024
North Dakota Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Based On Improper Expert Testimony
BISMARCK, N.D. — The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed a murder conviction and remanded the case after finding that the trial judge erred in allowing expert testimony from a witness for the state without the prosecutors meeting the state’s criminal procedure rules.
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June 04, 2024
Judge Says Expert Can Opine On Trucking Company’s Driver Logs In Crash Suit
SAN ANTONIO — Expert testimony on driver logs related to a trucker’s collision is reliable and will help a jury, a Texas federal judge ruled in denying a man’s motion to exclude; the judge also denied the man’s motion to reconsider a previous grant of partial summary judgment.
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June 03, 2024
Judge Rules Funeral Home’s Coverage Claim Barred By Rainwater Exclusion
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on May 31 dismissed with prejudice a funeral home’s complaint in which it argued that it was owed coverage for damage caused by a rainstorm after a roofing company failed to secure the roof for the weather, finding that coverage is barred by a policy exclusion related to damage caused by water without damage caused to the roof.
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May 29, 2024
COMMENTARY: Review Of Expert Causation Testimony Under Federal Rule Of Evidence 702: An Early Assessment Of The 2023 Amended Rule
By William L. Anderson and Mark A. Behrens
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June 03, 2024
Monsanto’s Bid To Strike Expert ‘Unavailing’ In Verdict Appeal, Judge Says
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that a trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied a motion by Monsanto Co. that sought to exclude a plaintiff’s expert in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit in which a jury awarded the plaintiff $175 million in combined damages. The judge said Monsanto’s allegation of error related to the admissibility of a plaintiffs’ expert was “unavailing.”
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May 31, 2024
Federal Judge: Expert Can Testify That Dangerous Railroad Crossing Led To Crash
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri federal judge on May 30 denied a joint motion filed by a railroad company and Amtrak to exclude an expert who opined that a railroad crossing was extrahazardous and that its condition led to a collision.
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May 31, 2024
Michigan Appeals Court: No Error In Expert Exclusion, Summary Judgment Award
DETROIT — A Michigan trial court did not err in finding that a medical expert failed to meet the admissibility standards under state law and that without that testimony, a woman failed to “advance a viable claim of medical malpractice,” a state appeals court held in affirming summary judgment in a medical malpractice suit.
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May 30, 2024
Judge Certifies Privacy, Publicity Rights Class Action Against Data Aggregator
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on May 29 granted a group of plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class action against a personal information data-aggregator website on behalf of two statewide classes accusing the company of violating plaintiffs’ rights of publicity and against misappropriation of name and likeness and denied the parties’ competing motions to exclude each other’s experts.
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May 30, 2024
BP: Magistrate’s Report Correct, Deepwater Horizon Case Should Be Dismissed
PENSACOLA, Fla. — BP Exploration & Production Inc. and BP America Production Co. (collectively, BP) filed a brief in Florida federal court arguing that it should overrule a plaintiff’s objection to a magistrate judge’s report that recommended that the court dismiss an injury lawsuit brought by a man who says he developed cancer as a result of working on a clean-up crew following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
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May 30, 2024
Contractor Is Excluded From Testifying About Cabin Owner’s Lost Rental Income
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A general contractor is not qualified to testify about lost rental income arising from allegedly defective construction work performed at a cabin because the owner of the property failed to show that the contractor is an expert on the topic, a Tennessee federal magistrate judge found in granting a motion to exclude in part.
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May 29, 2024
Judge Certifies Class Of Consumers Allegedly Deceived By ‘Italy’s #1 Pasta’ Label
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on May 28 granted two consumers’ motion to certify their class action against an Illinois-based pasta manufacturer for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by selling pasta products labeled with an “Italy’s #1 Brand of Pasta” statement and Italian flag colors and denied the manufacturer’s motion to exclude a plaintiff expert as moot.
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May 28, 2024
Judge Certifies Class In ESG Row Focused On Proxy Voting, Shareholder Activism
FORT WORTH, Texas — Rejecting numerous arguments advanced by American Airlines Inc. and a related defendant in a suit over environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations and the purported proxy voting activism of investment management firms, a Texas federal judge granted certification of a narrowed class that reflects the decision to drop one theory of liability.
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May 28, 2024
Georgia High Court Won’t Review Daubert Ruling In FELA Asbestos Case
ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court declined to take a look at a ruling on the admissibility of an expert in a Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) asbestos case, turning away arguments that the divided and “fractured” ruling at issue established that the court rushed the opinion and warning that unless the court addressed the issue, parties to every case could end up citing Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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May 23, 2024
Judge Limits Testimony From 1 Expert In Flea, Tick Treatment Antitrust Suit
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge agreed to limit testimony from an expert retained by a generic maker of pet flea and tick treatments but denied the generic maker’s motion to exclude the expert retained by the maker of Advantage and Advantix topical flea and tick treatments in an antitrust case.
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May 23, 2024
Expert Can Testify In Oil, Gas Contract Dispute; Judge Denies Summary Judgment
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Wyoming chancery court judge found that testimony from an expert retained in an oil and gas contracts dispute is admissible under Wyoming Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and separately denied a motion for summary judgment.
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May 22, 2024
J&J Wants Access To Asbestos Expert’s Lab, Simultaneous Testing
TRENTON, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson entities asked the federal court in New Jersey overseeing the multidistrict talc litigation to compel simultaneous testing in asbestos expert William Longo’s laboratory, telling the court the expert will otherwise deflect probing questions related to upcoming evidentiary briefing by continuing his claim that his opinions require looking through his own microscopes at his own laboratory.
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May 22, 2024
Flint Bellwether Plaintiffs Insist Expert Is Qualified, Evidence Rule Satisfied
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Bellwether III plaintiffs in the Flint water crisis litigation filed a response brief in Michigan federal court on May 21 arguing that a pediatrician they intend to call as an expert witness is qualified to testify and that her opinions satisfy the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
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May 22, 2024
New York Federal Judge Rejects Motions To Exclude Experts In Ski Crash Suit
ALBANY, N.Y. — A judge ruled on dueling motions to exclude experts retained in a lawsuit stemming from a woman’s injuries suffered while she was skiing, ruling that both the woman’s experts on medical injuries and snow sports and the ski resort’s biomechanical engineering expert can testify.
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May 22, 2024
Experts Who Say Defectively Designed Honda Accord Led To Fatal Crash Can Testify
BURLINGTON, Vt. — A Vermont federal judge denied a motion for summary judgment filed by American Honda Co. Inc. (AMH) after finding that whether a defectively designed Honda Accord led to fatal car accident is in dispute and that the woman’s experts are admissible.
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May 17, 2024
Certification Of Blackbaud Data Breach Classes Denied; Ascertainability Not Shown
COLUMBIA, S.C. — The named plaintiffs in a multidistrict litigation over a 2020 data breach and ransomware attack experienced by Blackbaud Inc. failed to demonstrate that their proposed classes are “administratively feasible,” a South Carolina federal judge found, denying their motion for class certification while also taking the opportunity to resolve several Daubert motions.