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Mealey's Daubert

  • April 11, 2024

    Federal Judge Issues Final Forfeiture Order In $38M Nursing Home Fraud Suit

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge issued a final forfeiture order regarding applying the assets of the former owner of skilled nursing facilities to the $38.7 million judgment entered against him for his role in a health care fraud scheme involving bribing physicians to have patients entered into the facilities he owned.

  • April 10, 2024

    Judge: Experts Can Testify On How Jet Fuel Spill Caused Psychological Injuries

    HONOLULU — A federal judge in Hawaii largely rejected efforts by the U.S. government to exclude three experts retained by the plaintiffs to opine on the psychological impacts of a groundwater contamination case after finding that many of its arguments can be addressed through cross-examination.

  • April 08, 2024

    Expert Allowed In Roof Coverage Suit Pending In Nevada Federal Court

    LAS VEGAS — A Nevada federal judge found that the arguments in an insurer’s motion to exclude expert testimony “are matters for cross examination and are not bases to strike” and that the expert’s testimony on the condition of a roof at the center of a coverage dispute is admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • April 08, 2024

    Washington Judge Excludes AI-Enhanced Video From Murder Trial

    SEATTLE — An artificial intelligence-enhanced video of a mass shooting does not meet the Frye v. United States standard, and the admission of such opaque and nonpeer-reviewable evidence would likely only introduce prejudice and complications into a murder trial, a Washington state court judge said in excluding the video.

  • April 08, 2024

    Medical Coding, Damages Testimony Largely Admitted In Labs’ Compensation Case

    BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Experts may largely testify about medical coding practices and the resulting damages labs incurred from an insurer’s denials of the labs’ claims because they go beyond a layperson’s knowledge and are based on solid calculations, a federal judge in Connecticut said in excluding only portions based on flawed data provided to the damages expert and the medical coder’s testimony about whether the labs attempted to collect from patients.

  • April 05, 2024

    Judge Excludes Expert Who Says Man’s Movements Suggest Jump, Not Fall, From Truck

    NEWARK, N.J. — A New Jersey federal judge granted a motion filed by a man who was injured when he allegedly fell from a moving tractor-trailer to exclude an expert who opines that the man jumped instead of fell.

  • April 05, 2024

    Magistrate Judge Allows Biomechanical Testimony From Expert In Injury Suit

    MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida carved out the specific testimony that one expert retained by a Carnival Corp. may offer in a personal injury suit but largely denied a man’s motion to exclude under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • April 03, 2024

    Chili’s Customers: Class Damages Methodology Review Not Needed In Data Breach Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court does not need to review a question presented by a restaurant chain owner in a data breach case concerning the damages methodology used by the certified classes’ expert as the underlying decision doesn’t present the question Brinker International Inc. seeks to resolve, restaurant customers argue in their respondent brief.

  • April 02, 2024

    Judge: Expert Can Testify In Prisoner’s Suit Against Facility’s Medical Staff

    CHICAGO — An inmate lost his challenge in an Illinois federal court to exclude an expert retained by a doctor who treated him while in custody who will opine that there was no deviation from the standard of care during a treatment plan that led to a toe amputation.

  • April 01, 2024

    2nd Class Loses ERISA Case Over Proprietary TDFs After Bench Trial

    LOS ANGELES — As a peer did in a similar case weeks earlier, a California federal judge has entered final judgment against a class of retirement plan participants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over proprietary target date funds (TDFs) following a bench trial.

  • March 28, 2024

    Glyphosate Cancer Plaintiff Says His Expert’s Opinions Have Not Been ‘Debunked’

    SAN FRANCISCO — A man who sued Monsanto Co. for allegedly causing his cancer as a result of exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, on March 27 filed a brief in California federal court arguing that Monsanto’s arguments to exclude his expert witness fail because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has not “debunked” the expert’s opinions.

  • March 28, 2024

    Asbestos-Talc MDL Judge: Changes To Landscape Require Refiling Of Daubert Motions

    TRENTON, N.J. — Changes in science and federal rules of evidence since a 2020 opinion on the admissibility of experts in the federal multidistrict asbestos-talc litigation warrant the refiling of Daubert motions, the federal judge overseeing the litigation said in a March 27 text-only order.

  • March 26, 2024

    Expert Testimony Precluded, Judgment Granted To Defendants In Auto Glass Fraud Row

    PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on March 25 granted in part insureds’ summary judgment motion in an insurance fraud dispute alleging that they submitted fraudulent bills for automobile glass repair and replacement services, granting the motion as to insurance claims made after the insurer sent cease-and-desist letters to its insureds but denying the motion for claims before the letters were sent due to a dispute of material facts.

  • 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.