Mealey's Daubert
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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October 08, 2024
In Dissent, Mich. Justice Says Court Should Weigh In On Testimony’s Admissibility
LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan Supreme Court justice dissented from the court’s decision to deny a man’s leave to appeal a trial court’s decision to reject his request for a hearing on the admissibility of an expert under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., saying the “defendant has raised jurisprudentially significant questions.”
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October 03, 2024
Ruling Allows Asbestos Experts, Rejects Defenses And 4 Summary Judgment Motions
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California addressing a handful of motions involving Daubert challenges and various requests for summary judgment admitted a co-worker’s deposition testimony, said the plaintiffs’ experts did not offer the opinion that every exposure to asbestos leads to disease, denied four defendants summary judgment but found that sufficient evidence exists to grant the plaintiffs summary judgment on the sophisticated user and sophisticated intermediary defenses.
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October 01, 2024
Louisiana Court Reinstates Industrial Hygiene Opinion In Household Asbestos Case
NEW ORLEANS — The evidence an asbestos industrial hygiene expert relied on for his conclusion that a woman experienced significant household exposures goes to the weight of that testimony and not its admissibility, a Louisiana appeals court said in granting an emergency appeal and reversing a motion to exclude.
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September 30, 2024
Judge Says ‘No Choice’ But To Grant Judgment To Meta In Adult Entertainers Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment to Meta Platforms Inc. in a putative class action filed by adult entertainment (AE) performers alleging tortious interference and unfair competition in blacklisting social media posts by most AE providers in favor of the OnlyFans AE platform, finding that despite Meta’s “questionable recordkeeping,” the plaintiffs failed to show that questions remain regarding issues of material fact.
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September 27, 2024
Judge: Tattoo Artist Did Not Show How Game Makers’ Infringement Caused Damages
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge held that the developers of wrestling video games are not entitled to judgment as a matter of law after a jury determined that they are liable for copyright infringement of a tattoo artist’s work through their depictions in-game of a tattooed wrestling star, but they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on damages because the artist presented no evidence at trial to support the award of damages.
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September 26, 2024
Federal Circuit Grants Google’s Petition For Rehearing Of Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Sept. 25 that it will reconsider its June opinion leaving in place findings by a jury empaneled in a Texas federal court that Google LLC infringed smart thermostat technology to the tune of $20 million in damages owed to a patent owner, granting Google’s petition for en banc rehearing.
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September 24, 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 and September 2024 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.
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September 24, 2024
Appeals Court: No Error In Expert Testimony Rulings; Conviction Affirmed
ATLANTA — There was no abuse of discretion in a district court’s decision to deny a man’s request for a hearing to determine the admissibility of the government’s expert under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. nor in excluding his expert from testifying, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in affirming a criminal conviction.
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September 23, 2024
Arborists Can Opine For Both Sides On Reasonable Tree Removal Safety, Judge Says
NEW ORLEANS — Dueling arborists can both testify in a case alleging that a tree-cutting company’s employee negligently allowed a tree to fall into traffic, causing injuries to a driver, a Louisiana federal judge ruled.
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September 23, 2024
Federal Florida Magistrate Recommends Allowing Doctor To Testify In Injury Suit
MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended that a motion to exclude testimony from a woman’s treating physician be denied in a personal injury suit filed against Carnival Corp. for an injury sustained on a cruise ship.
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September 23, 2024
Arizona Federal Judge Limits Testimony In Firefighter’s Discrimination Case
PHOENIX — An expert retained in an age discrimination and retaliation case can testify on the new fitness requirements for firefighters but cannot offer expert opinions on statements that are understood by an average juror, an Arizona federal judge ruled, also finding that the man suing for discrimination can have his expert testify on his economic damages.
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September 20, 2024
Testimony Properly Admitted In Trial Against Alleged Terrorist, 2nd Circuit Says
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found no error in a district court allowing expert testimony in a criminal case for a man accused of attempting to fight for the Taliban to kill Americans abroad and recruiting others to join his cause and affirmed his conviction.
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September 19, 2024
Pa. Court Rejects Expert, Causation Challenges After $3.3M Asbestos Verdict
HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania appellate court found no fault with a trial judge’s conclusion about expert testimony on causation and duty or in allowing an asbestos suit against an employer that ended in a bench trial and more than $3.3 million verdict, but said that the trial judge erred in reducing delay damages for various issues in the case, including a prolonged stay that corresponded with the coronavirus pandemic.
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September 19, 2024
Parties Ask Court For Summary Judgment In Defective Birth Control Device Case
CHICAGO — A woman who claims that she was injured by a defective birth control device and the manufacturer, distributor and parent company of that device filed competing motions seeking to exclude experts and asking for summary judgment in an Illinois federal court.
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September 19, 2024
Va. Federal Judge: Lost Profits Expert Can Testify In Suit Alleging Defamation
RICHMOND, Va. — An expert retained to opine on an insurance claim adjustment company’s economic loss after allegedly defaming statements were made to its customers by an online payment company can testify, a Virginia federal judge ruled.
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September 18, 2024
Kansas Appeals Court Finds Expert Opining On Birds’ Deaths Properly Excluded
TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas appeals court found no error in a trial court in awarding summary judgment to an animal feed company after excluding experts retained by a farm that alleged that defective feed caused the death of almost 25,000 birds.
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September 13, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Largely Fails In ERISA Class Row Over Proprietary Funds
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has mostly denied summary judgment in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the selection and retention of proprietary funds, also denying the defendants’ requests to partly exclude the opinions and exhibits of two of the plaintiffs’ experts.
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September 13, 2024
Magistrate Recommends Granting 2 Motions To Exclude Experts For Rule 26 Violations
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A federal magistrate judge in New Mexico recommended that two experts retained by a man alleging that he was injured in a police shootout be barred from testifying for failing to timely explain how the experts reached their conclusions.
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September 12, 2024
Experts In College Admission Case Challenging Racial Preferences Can Testify
BALTIMORE — Experts retained by an organization that alleges that the U.S. Naval Academy unconstitutionally considers race as a factor in admissions can testify after a federal judge in Maryland largely denied a motion to exclude.