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Mealey's Daubert

  • February 26, 2021

    Government’s Motion To Exclude Fails; Expert Must Revise Report In Criminal Case

    MILWAUKEE — A nurse practitioner accused of distributing controlled substances outside of her medical practice must submit an updated expert report by March 22 explaining the expert’s methodology, a Wisconsin federal judge ruled Feb. 22, and denied the government’s motion to exclude.

  • February 25, 2021

    Experts Allowed In Suit Alleging Previous Owner Lied During Home Sale

    SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A federal judge in Indiana on Feb. 22 denied a woman’s motion to exclude five experts in a dispute over mold and flooding disclosures during the sale of a home, calling her objections “perplexing” and saying that each expert met the qualifications set under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • February 25, 2021

    Copyright Claims Against Stephen King Properly Dismissed, Panel Says

    ATLANTA — In a Feb. 23 ruling, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said a federal judge in Florida did not err in rejecting allegations of copyright infringement levied in connection with “The Dark Tower” book series by Stephen King, later adapted into a motion picture.

  • February 24, 2021

    3rd Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment, Verdict For Nursing Home Defendants

    PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania did not err in granting summary judgment to two physicians who contracted with a nursing home to care for its residents, in refusing to issue two jury instructions proposed by the estate of a former resident who asserted civil rights violations or in limiting the testimony of the estate’s expert witness, a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ruled Feb. 22 in a nonprecedential opinion.

  • February 24, 2021

    Insurer Seeks Dismissal Of Class Action Alleging It Uses Unqualified Expert Witnesses

    HOUSTON — An insurer on Feb. 19 asked a federal court in Texas to dismiss a law firm’s fraud and civil conspiracy class action alleging that it repeatedly hires “unqualified people to prepare so-called controverting affidavits in areas” in which “they have no knowledge, skill, training, education, or experience,” arguing that the law firm’s own pleadings and Texas law disprove that the insurer and three of its expert witnesses knowingly made false representations.

  • February 19, 2021

    Judge Allows Association’s Experts To Opine About Roof, Finds Some Claims Timely

    CHARLESTON, S.C. — A federal judge in South Carolina on Feb. 17 granted in part and denied in part a roof system manufacturer’s motion for summary judgment, finding that genuine disputes exist as to whether a condominium association’s claims for negligence and breach of express warranty are timely, and denied the defendant company’s motion to exclude the testimony of two experts on the ground that any challenges to their opinions can be raised on cross-examination.

  • February 18, 2021

    Woman: Court Properly Concluded Frye Doesn’t Warrant Genetic Test

    CHICAGO — An asbestos defendant misframes a Frye v. United States ruling in a way that if adopted would permit its expert to perform genetic testing for any reason regardless of scientific support, a woman suffering from mesothelioma in Illinois told a state court judge on Feb. 16 in opposing reconsideration of the ruling.

  • February 18, 2021

    Expert Testimony Limited In Trade Secret Violations Case Involving Ex-Employees

    BALTIMORE — Expert testimony in a trade secret dispute will be limited, a Maryland federal judge ruled Feb. 8, finding that much of the proposed testimony of one expert constitutes inadmissible legal conclusions, with the rebuttal witness’s testimony largely rendered moot, and that challenges to another expert are best resolved through cross-examination.

  • February 18, 2021

    Experts Barred From Testifying In Ladder Design Product Liability Case

    FORT WORTH, Texas — Two experts in a suit alleging that a defectively designed ladder caused injuries may not testify, a federal judge in Texas ruled Feb. 10, finding that their reports and testimony do not meet the admissibility threshold established in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • February 17, 2021

    Federal Judge Excludes Expert’s Conclusions For No Reliable Methodology

    PITTSBURGH — An expert witness failed to provide any discernable standard or methodology for his conclusion that an inadequate warning label on a hammer caused a workplace injury, a Pennsylvania federal judge said Jan. 22, granting a manufacturer’s motion to exclude.

  • February 16, 2021

    Expert Can’t Testify On Medical Causation In Hair Loss MDL, Federal Judge Rules

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge on Jan. 29 limited the expert testimony in the second bellwether trial in the Taxotere hair loss multidistrict litigation, finding that the expert can’t testify that the cancer drug causes irreversible alopecia but that his opinions based on database and clinical trial analysis are admissible.

  • February 16, 2021

    Federal Judge Allows Expert Testimony In Mass Shooting Suit

    SAN ANTONIO — An expert who says that a proper background check may have prevented a mass shooting that left 26 dead may testify, a Texas federal judge ruled Feb. 2, rejecting arguments from the federal government that the expert failed to meet the reliability standard set in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • February 16, 2021

    Judge Denies Motions To Limit Testimony Of Developers’ Experts On Defects

    BOSTON — A federal judge in Massachusetts on Feb. 12 denied motions seeking to limit testimony proffered by experts retained by the owner and developer of a 28-building condominium development that suffers from construction defects, finding that the disclosure of the experts’ identities was timely and that the challenges to their testimony are to the weight of the evidence, not admissibility.

  • February 16, 2021

    Judge Certifies Pay-For-Delay Insurer Class For Alzheimer’s Drug Namenda, Generics

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Feb. 11 granted a motion by a union health benefit fund to certify a class of purchasers of the Alzheimer’s drug Namenda who were injured by a “pay-for-delay” scheme but denied certification of a class allegedly injured by being forced to switch from an original version of the drug to a newer one.

  • February 16, 2021

    Expert Properly Excluded In 911 Charge Fee Dispute, 6th Circuit Affirms

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 9 affirmed summary judgment for a telecommunications company, finding in part that the testimony offered by an expert for a group of Tennessee companies that provide 911 services for their area was correctly excluded because of “multiple fatal defects” on reliability and impermissible legal opinions.

  • February 16, 2021

    Alternative Design For Tractor-Trailer Not Tested, Unreliable, Judge Finds

    ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge on Feb. 12 barred expert testimony on under-ride side protectors for tractor-trailers, finding that the alternative design has not been crash-tested and is therefore unreliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • February 16, 2021

    Louisiana Federal Judge Bars Expert Testimony Based On Previously Excluded Report

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge on Feb. 12 granted an oil drilling operator’s motion to exclude an expert witness, finding that his report was largely based on one he produced in a related case that was excluded based on a failure to meet Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. standards.

  • February 12, 2021

    Federal Judge Denies WYO Insurer’s Motion To Exclude Insureds’ Designated Expert

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana on Feb. 10 denied a Write-Your-Own (WYO) insurer’s motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ designated expert in a consolidated flood coverage dispute, finding that the insured’s motion is “substantively identical” to another insurer’s motion in limine in lawsuits that present common questions of fact and law and arise out of the same flood.

  • February 11, 2021

    Magistrate Judge Says Evidence Doesn’t Support Bomber Asbestos Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — While a man identified stamping on the clamps he used on military B-58 bombers, plaintiffs never link that testimony to asbestos exposure, a federal magistrate judge in Delaware said Feb. 8 in recommending that summary judgment be granted.

  • February 10, 2021

    California Panel Affirms Dismissal Of Man’s UCL Claim In Sexual Supplement Case

    LOS ANGELES — A California appellate court panel on Jan. 25 affirmed a trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of a supplement maker that was sued under California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and accused of false advertising by a customer, writing that the trial court properly excluded an expert report as “too speculative” and that the customer presented no other evidence beyond his own anecdotal experience.