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Mealey's Daubert

November 28, 2023
Expert On Hail Damage Admissible, But Federal Judge Orders 2nd Deposition

DALLAS — A forensic engineer retained in an insurance coverage dispute can testify, a federal judge in Texas ruled, rejecting a motion filed by the insurer to exclude his testimony, but the judge ordered that the expert be made available for a second deposition at the insured’s expense.
November 27, 2023
Expert On Lost Profits Meets Admissibility Standards Under Daubert, Judge Says

SEATTLE — An expert retained by a food distributor suing companies for mislabeled and misrepresented chicken products that it alleges led to the termination of its contract with Trader Joe’s can testify about lost profits, a Washington federal judge ruled.
November 22, 2023
Federal Magistrate Allows Expert Testimony In SEC’s Case Against Crypto Investor

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas denied a crypto asset investor’s motion to exclude testimony from a Securities and Exchange Commission expert witness who will testify about the investor’s alleged use of a crypto blockchain to sell a token as an unregistered security, finding in part that the investor did not show what alternate data about the blockchain should have been used by the expert.
November 17, 2023
Michigan Court Partially Reverses Expert Exclusion Ruling On Interlocutory Appeal

TROY, Mich. — An expert who is not board-certified in surgical critical care cannot opine on whether doctors who are board-certified breached the applicable standard of care, a Michigan appeals court ruled in an interlocutory appeal, partially reversing a trial court’s ruling in a wrongful death medical malpractice case.
November 17, 2023
5th Circuit Says No Error In Expert Testimony, Upholds $5M Verdict For Crash

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a $5 million verdict for a woman and her brother who were injured in a car crash and allege that a Honda vehicle design defect was at fault, finding that the expert witnesses were properly admitted and rejecting other points on appeal.
November 16, 2023
Judge Admits Pair Of Experts, Grants Asbestos Plaintiffs Limited Surrebuttal

GREAT FALLS, Mont. — An asbestos expert for two plaintiffs didn’t simply sign off on a counsel-authored report but provided adequate input of his own, and while challenged portions of a defense expert’s report largely constitute rebuttal, to the extent that they do not the plaintiffs may file a surrebuttal, a federal judge in a Libby, Mont., asbestos exposure case said Nov. 15 in denying motions to strike.
November 16, 2023
Judge Allows Expert Testimony But Pares Claims In Hip Implant Injury Case

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — An Idaho federal judge will allow an expert retained by a woman suing for an allegedly defective hip implant to testify but partially granted the manufacturers’ motion for summary judgment.
November 15, 2023
Magistrate Recommends Not Striking Expert Reports In Care Home Negligence Suit

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A North Carolina federal magistrate judge on Nov. 14 recommended denying a skilled nursing facility’s summary judgment motion and motion to strike expert witness reports in a negligence suit against the facility by the estate of a former resident, finding that the estate has shown that failure to comply with the expert disclosure deadline was harmless and there is no basis for summary judgment without excluding the expert reports.
November 15, 2023
Magistrate Judge: Roofing Contractor Failed To File Proper Expert Report

FORT MYERS, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge struck a report and expert testimony offered by a roofing contractor that says roofing products it used during a repair job damaged two condominium properties because the contractor failed to provide several necessary elements in the report, including all the opinions on which the expert would testify.
November 14, 2023
Maryland Appeals Court Upholds Expert Testimony In Lead Exposure Case

BALTIMORE — A Maryland appeals court affirmed a more than $2 million jury verdict for lead exposure in paint after finding that the expert who opined that a man’s injuries were caused by his early childhood exposure was properly admitted.
November 14, 2023
Judge Allows Expert’s Testimony, Denies Summary Judgment In Fatal Rollover Case

MILWAUKEE — A Wisconsin federal magistrate judge denied a motion to exclude an engineering expert retained by the estate of a man killed when a Caterpillar Inc. dump truck rolled over, finding that his testimony meets the requirements of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the manufacturer’s objections can be addressed through cross-examination.
November 14, 2023
Hawaii Judge Excludes BAP1 Genetic Causation Opinion From Asbestos Trial

HONOLULU — After allowing a blood test, a Hawaii judge excluded any resulting expert opinions on genetics’ role in a man’s mesothelioma as untimely and inadmissible in an ongoing asbestos trial, sources told Mealey Publications.
November 13, 2023
Judge Says Plaintiff’s Expert May Testify In Case Over Seismic Data For Fracking

HOUSTON — A federal judge in Texas has denied a defendant’s motion to exclude a plaintiff’s witness regarding his testimony on reasonable royalty damages in a dispute over disclosure of unlicensed seismic data to a third-party oil and gas operator, ruling that the testimony is permitted as long as it complies with the requirements of Federal Rule of Evidence 701.
November 10, 2023
In IP Litigation Between Pharmacies, Both Sides Lose Daubert Challenges

SAN DIEGO — A federal judge in California has weighed in on competing motions to exclude expert testimony in a dispute over a compounding pharmacy’s alleged false advertising, unfair competition and copyright infringement, deeming the proposed experts for both sides “duly qualified” to render their opinions, which the judge said are based on “sufficiently reliable” methodologies.
November 09, 2023
Ex-DePuy Consultant Out As Plaintiffs’ Expert, D.C. Federal Judge Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia joined other district courts in finding that an expert retained by a plaintiff in a defective “metal-on-metal” (MoM) hip replacement device case cannot testify because he previously served as a consultant for the device manufacturer.
November 07, 2023
Judge Excludes Expert; Parties Weigh Moves After LTL Bankruptcy Stay Ends

RALEIGH, N.C. — Parties to an asbestos talc-related mesothelioma case told a federal judge in North Carolina that recent developments lifted the stay imposed by the LTL Management LLC bankruptcy and that the parties were working toward an agreement that would permit the filing of an amended complaint naming the company. The status report came in response to a ruling seeking information on the stay and granting a defendant’s motion to exclude experts and for summary judgment.
November 06, 2023
No Coverage Owed For Roof Collapse Following Thunderstorm, 5th Circuit Affirms

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 3 affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of an insurer in a building owner insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for damage caused by a collapsed roof following a thunderstorm, rejecting the insured’s contention that its principal’s deposition testimony created a genuine issue of material fact regarding whether the damage was caused by wind or rain.
November 03, 2023
Judge: 1 Claim Remains, Some Expert Testimony Allowed In Cruise Injury Case

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge partially dismissed a lawsuit against a cruise liner company filed by a woman who claims to have been injured in her stateroom and partially granted its motion to exclude certain experts from testifying.
November 02, 2023
Judge Tosses Deepwater Horizon Case After Excluding Plaintiff’s Causation Expert

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit brought against BP Exploration & Production Inc. and others by a man who alleged that he was injured by exposure to toxic chemicals from his work as an onshore cleanup worker following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The judge excluded the plaintiff’s medical expert and ruled that without the expert the plaintiff could not establish general causation.
November 02, 2023
California High Court Rejects Asbestos-Talc Experts Ruling Case

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The California Supreme Court on Nov. 1 denied Johnson & Johnson’s petition for review asking the court to decide the standard applied to evidentiary rulings, the admission of nonwitness expert opinions and how courts should evaluate cases alleging exposure to asbestos in products not designed to contain asbestos.
November 01, 2023
Judge: Pilot Can’t Opine On Air Traffic Controller Standards In Crash Suit

HONOLULU — A Hawaii federal judge on Oct. 31 granted a motion by the United States to limit the testimony of an expert retained in a wrongful death case, finding that the pilot who was retained to opine on what caused a helicopter to crash does not have the requisite experience as an air traffic controller to offer his opinions.
October 31, 2023
10th Circuit: Drug Trafficker’s Conviction Correct, No Error In Testimony

DENVER — A district court did not err in admitting expert testimony during a criminal trial for a man accused of narcotics trafficking, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in affirming his conviction.
October 31, 2023
Magistrate Judge Nixes 2 Of Monsanto’s Experts, 1 Plaintiff Witness In PCB Trial

SEATTLE — A federal magistrate judge in Washington has excluded two expert witnesses that Monsanto Co. sought to use in a polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination lawsuit, ruling that Monsanto failed to justify the late disclosure of one expert’s report and that the other expert’s report was based on “unreliable methodology and data” obtained from the first expert. The magistrate judge also excluded one of the plaintiff’s rebuttal witnesses due to her lack of “foundation of knowledge.”
October 30, 2023
New Jersey Appeals Court Won’t Reconsider Asbestos-Talc Expert Admission Ruling

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — In four orders, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division denied motions for reconsideration, leaving stand a ruling reversing the admission of expert testimony that led to a $224 million verdict and remanding for a new trial.
October 26, 2023
California Federal Judge Allows Expert In Trademark Dispute Over Shades Of Blue

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge found that a “color consultant” expert can testify in a dispute over a trademark but ruled that she cannot opine on a likelihood of confusion between the two products.