Mealey's Daubert : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Daubert

March 26, 2024
No Error In Expert Testimony; Multiple Convictions Affirmed By Maryland Appeals Court

BALTIMORE — A Maryland appeals court found no error in a trial court allowing a firearms examiner to testify that the bullet casings found at the scene of shootings were from a handgun found on a man arrested with the defendant, affirming his conviction.
March 21, 2024
Medical Experts Can Testify For Widow In Excessive Force Claim Against Police

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge ruled that medical experts retained by a woman who alleges that her husband died as a result of a police officer using excessive force while responding to a medical emergency can testify in her suit against the officer.
March 21, 2024
Judge: 1 Expert Excluded, Others Allowed In Insurance Coverage Spat

DENVER — Experts retained by homeowners can testify on the cause of alleged water damage that is part of an insurance coverage dispute, but the insurer’s expert is inadmissible because his testimony is irrelevant to the issues in the case, a Colorado federal judge ruled.
March 21, 2024
Michigan Court: New Premises Liability Standard Means Expert Improperly Excluded

DETROIT — A Michigan appeals court found that a trial court improperly excluded an expert’s testimony in a premises liability suit, noting that a recent state Supreme Court case has redefined how courts should apply an open-and-obvious danger defense, and vacated the granting of summary disposition to the defendant.
March 19, 2024
N.Y. Federal Judge: Cargo Fee Dispute Moves Forward, Experts Can Testify

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on March 18 ruled that a dispute over costs incurred in the shipping of cargo overseas can proceed after finding that testimony from one company’s expert witnesses is admissible and denying a motion for summary judgment.
March 19, 2024
Causation Experts Out In Defective Gun Dispute; Maker Wins Summary Judgment

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge granted a gun manufacturer summary judgment after finding inadmissible the causation experts who were retained by a deportation officer for the United States Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) who alleges that a firearm accidentally discharged.
March 18, 2024
11th Circuit: Expert Testimony Properly Admitted In Rehab Fraud Convictions

ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction of two brothers for charges stemming from the fraudulent operation of drug rehabilitation clinics, rejecting among other arguments their contention that the trial court erred in admitting expert testimony.
March 18, 2024
Narcotics Expert Barred From Testifying For Officer On Reasonableness Of Search

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge found that “experience and expertise alone are insufficient to satisfy” the admissibility requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and granted a man’s motion to exclude a law enforcement and narcotics expert from testifying in a civil rights action stemming from a police stop.
March 15, 2024
Expert On Art Market Can Testify In Dispute Over Sale Of Basquiat Painting

NEW YORK — An expert retained in an in rem action to foreclose a lien and to obtain an order permitting the sale of a painting valued at $14 million may testify, a New York magistrate judge ruled March 14, finding that he is “qualified to serve as an expert on art industry standards for underwriting asset-back loans secured by pieces of art.”
March 15, 2024
Monsanto Again Seeks To Exclude Witness In Roundup Case, This Time Under Daubert

SAN FRANCISCO — Monsanto Co. has filed a motion in California federal court seeking to exclude a plaintiffs’ expert witness in a glyphosate cancer lawsuit for a second time, arguing that under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., the witness’ testimony does not “fit” the facts of the case and is based on debunked science.
March 13, 2024
Summary Judgment Denied To State Farm In Dispute Over Concealed SSDI Application

DENVER — A Colorado federal judge denied State Farm’s motion for summary judgment in a bad faith and breach of contract suit filed against it over coverage for an insured’s uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) claims related to an auto accident, finding that the insured did “not technically” make false statements regarding her application for Social Security Disability Income (SSDI) that would void her insurance policy for fraud.
March 13, 2024
As Tax Penalty Row Over Microcaptives Nears Jury Trial, Parties Seek Exclusions

FORT MYERS, Fla. — After a Florida federal judge denied motions for summary judgment and to preclude the testimony of three experts in consolidated cases involving promotion of purported microcaptive insurance companies, the parties asked the court to exclude certain evidence and terms from the approaching jury trial.
March 13, 2024
Judge Strikes Expert Testimony, Denies Class Certification In Suit Against GEICO

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge on March 12 granted insurers’ motion to strike the insureds’ expert testimony and denied the insureds’ motion for certification of two classes in their lawsuit alleging that the insurers violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act by charging “excessive” premiums during the COVID-19 pandemic that failed to account for a dramatic reduction in driving, finding that the insureds failed to establish predominance to warrant class certification.
March 13, 2024
Mississippi Appeals Court Finds Expert Properly Admitted, Affirms Conviction

JACKSON, Miss. — A man convicted of participating in a deadly robbery failed to convince a Mississippi appeals court that the trial court erred in allowing a deputy coroner to testify about the cause of death of the victim, also rejecting his other arguments on appeal.
March 12, 2024
Government: Expert In Water Case Warrants Exclusion, Fails To Explain Methodology

HONOLULU — The U.S. government has filed a reply brief in Hawaii federal court arguing that it should strike one of the plaintiffs’ experts in a groundwater contamination case because it is “impossible to verify” whether he applied what is called “grounded theory” appropriately in light of the fact that he refuses to provide details about the methodology he uses to reach his opinions.
March 11, 2024
Judge: Causation, Life Care Expert Admissible In Accident Injury Case

PHILADELPHIA — Experts retained to testify for a man who alleges that he was injured in a motor vehicle accident clear the “low bar for admissibility,” a Pennsylvania federal judge found, denying a motion to exclude under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
March 08, 2024
Expert On Credit Reports, Credit Scores Can Testify, Arizona Federal Judge Says

PHOENIX — An expert retained by a credit reporting agency can testify in a suit filed by a couple alleging that the agency wrongfully reported a foreclosure on their home in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), an Arizona federal judge ruled, rejected the couple’s argument that his testimony was inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
March 06, 2024
Settlement Reached In Malpractice Suit After Expert Testimony Is Limited

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A federal judge in Puerto Rico dismissed a medical malpractice suit with prejudice when parties alerted the court that they had reached a confidential settlement, days after the judge agreed to exclude testimony from an expert on standard of care but allowed testimony from a life-care planning expert.
March 05, 2024
5th Circuit: Causation Expert Properly Excluded In Deepwater Horizon Injury Case

NEW ORLEANS — A district court properly excluded a man’s medical expert after finding that he failed to show causation in a lawsuit against BP Exploration & Production Inc. related to his injuries through the exposure to chemicals during the cleanup operation that followed the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held.
March 04, 2024
Judge Denies Expert Preclusion Bids, Most Other Motions In ERISA Fees, Funds Case

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Ruling on requests to preclude testimony and exclude evidence in a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over fees and funds, a California federal judge denied seven motions by the defendants and one by the plaintiffs, partly granting just one motion by the plaintiffs.
March 01, 2024
Expert Cannot Opine On Cheer Company’s Intent In Overcharging Dispute

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge ruled that an expert retained by parents of competitive cheerleading athletes who allege that they overpaid for cheer competitions and apparel cannot opine on the company’s intent, but otherwise largely denied a motion to exclude his testimony.
February 29, 2024
South Carolina Top Court Rejects Cumulative Exposure Argument, Affirms Verdict

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Expert testimony and other evidence that led to an asbestos verdict did not constitute cumulative exposure theory, and lower court rulings did not run afoul of the state’s causation standard, the South Carolina Supreme Court said Feb. 28.
February 29, 2024
Public Adjuster Can Testify In Coverage Suit For Hurricane Damage

LAKE CHARLES, La. — A Louisiana federal judge denied an insurer’s motion to exclude expert testimony from a public adjuster in a coverage dispute stemming from a hurricane, finding that the insurer’s arguments are not grounds for exclusion.
February 28, 2024
ASD-ADHD MDL Judge Sets Deadlines To Object To Causation Experts, Tosses Cases

NEW YORK — The New York federal judge overseeing the acetaminophen autism spectrum disorder-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD-ADHD) multidistrict litigation on Feb. 27 ordered that any objections on whether testimony by a newly named causation expert is admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 be filed by July 1.
February 28, 2024
Court: Single-Source Asbestosis Case Avoids Texas Dose Requirement

HOUSTON — Because the record shows that a woman’s asbestos exposures came from a single company’s facility and reliable expert testimony established that her asbestosis could have only been caused by asbestos exposure, the evidence satisfies the state’s substantial factor causation standard even without reference to the dose required for disease, a Texas appeals court said Feb. 27 in reversing summary judgment for the company.