Mealey's Daubert
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October 10, 2023
Justice Finds AI DNA Testing Tool Admissible In New York Murder Case
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The fact that an artificial intelligence program used to identify and match DNA and solve a cold-case murder has come under criticism can be investigated on cross-examination but is not grounds to exclude the testing done by the program, a New York justice said in denying a motion to exclude.
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October 09, 2023
MDL Judge: Causation Expert Out In Zostavax Injury Bellwether Case
PHILADELPHIA — The Pennsylvania federal judge overseeing the Zostavax multidistrict litigation found that proposed testimony from the causation expert retained by the next bellwether plaintiff is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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October 09, 2023
Washington Federal Judge Tosses Experts Retained In Slip-And-Fall Case
SEATTLE — An expert retained by a man who fell inside a Home Depot does not offer any testimony that is beyond the knowledge of a lay juror, and another expert is excluded as a sanction for untimely disclosure, a Washington federal judge ruled.
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October 06, 2023
10th Circuit Finds No Error In Excluding Testimony In Fraud, False Statement Case
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 5 found no error in a trial court’s decision to exclude expert testimony offered on behalf of a man facing fraud charges stemming from a bankruptcy petition, nor did it find any error in the court’s rejecting of his proffered jury instruction.
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October 04, 2023
Portions Of Expert Report In Ohio Copyright Case Will Be Stricken
CLEVELAND — Although rejecting a copyright owner’s assertion that a defense expert’s rebuttal was untimely, a federal magistrate judge in Ohio on Oct. 3 agreed that the rebuttal makes improper legal arguments about the two-step substantial similarity test employed in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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October 04, 2023
New Jersey Court Faults Asbestos-Talc Expert Admissions, Topples $224M Award
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Given the apparent defects in expert opinions a trial judge improperly admitted three asbestos experts in a talc case without first holding a hearing on whether their methodologies and opinions were reliable, a New Jersey appeals court said Oct. 3 in reversing a $223.8 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson and remanding for a new trial.
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September 26, 2023
Judge: Plaintiffs’ Expert’s Methodology ‘Well-Supported,’ Opinion Is Admissible
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan on Sept. 25 denied defendants’ motion to exclude a plaintiffs expert in the litigation related to the lead-contaminated water crisis in the city of Flint, Mich., ruling that the methodology he used is “well-supported” in that he uses sources upon which other experts have relied in the case and uses data derived from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), which included the water lead levels observed during the Flint water crisis.
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September 26, 2023
Judge Nixes Deepwater Horizon Case For Expert’s Failure To Meet Daubert Standard
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana has dismissed a lawsuit for injuries allegedly caused by exposure to toxins related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, ruling that the plaintiff’s general causation expert has been rejected repeatedly by other courts under the standard set in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and a second expert proffered by the plaintiff is not a medical doctor.
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September 22, 2023
Experts Out, Summary Judgment Granted In Multivitamin Lead Poisoning Case
CHICAGO — Testimony of causation experts retained by a man who alleges that he developed peripheral neuropathy after taking a multivitamin is inadmissible, and without the testimony, his claims fail, an Illinois federal judge ruled and granted summary judgment to the manufacturer.
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September 21, 2023
Florida Panel Reverses Order Denying Insurer’s Motion To Strike Expert Witness
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals panel on Sept. 20 held that a lower court erred in admitting insureds’ expert testimony in a windstorm coverage dispute, reversing an order denying the insurer’s motion to strike the expert witness and remanding for a new trial.
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September 21, 2023
Man Appeals Summary Judgment Grant, Expert Exclusion In Gun Design Defect Case
OKLAHOMA CITY — A man who accidentally shot himself while removing a handgun from its holster filed a notice of appeal to the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals after a district court granted the gun manufacturer summary judgment and excluded his experts, who opined that the accident could have been prevented if the gun had been equipped with a manual safety.
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September 21, 2023
Maine Federal Judge OKs Troopers’ Designation As Experts In Civil Rights Case
PORTLAND, Maine — A Maine federal judge said that a man’s objections to the expert designation of the state troopers he is suing for allegedly violating his civil rights is “understandable” but that the objection is “misplaced.”
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September 20, 2023
Health Care Provider Loses Bid To Exclude Causation Expert In Deadly Fall Case
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge on Sept. 19 denied a motion for summary judgment after finding that a causation expert retained by the estate of an elderly woman who died after a fall while in the care of an in-home health aide can testify.
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September 20, 2023
Texas Federal Judge Agrees To Limit Expert Testimony In Slip-And-Fall Case
HOUSTON — A doctor testifying on behalf of a woman who is suing after a fall in a Home Depot store can discuss his diagnosis and treatment plan but cannot opine on causation, a federal judge in Texas ruled.
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September 20, 2023
Arizona Federal Judge Rules On Dueling Motions To Exclude In Design Defect Case
PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona has resolved challenges to three experts retained in a lawsuit alleging that a couple were injured when a tire on the recreational vehicle they were traveling in ruptured and the RV burst into flames.
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September 19, 2023
Efforts To Bar Experts In Disability Access On New York City Subways Suit Fail
NEW YORK — A New York federal magistrate judge rejected renewed efforts by New York’s transportation authority to exclude experts retained by a group of disability advocate organizations alleging that the city failed to provide full accessibility to all users of the city’s subway system.
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September 19, 2023
Judge: Physician Can Testify On Patient’s Medical Needs But Not Fencing Needs
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A physician who has treated a child with special needs can testify about the child’s “propensity to behave a certain way or do certain things as a result of his special needs” but cannot opine on a type of fence he would require to maintain the child’s safety, a Tennessee federal judge ruled.
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September 18, 2023
Expert In Alleged Faulty Knee Implant Case Can Testify, Wash. Federal Judge Rules
SEATTLE — A federal magistrate judge in Washington on Sept. 15 found that an expert retained by a patient who is suing a medical device manufacturer after a failed knee implant can base his conclusions on the notes of the surgeon and denied the manufacturer’s motion to exclude his testimony.
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September 18, 2023
Ga. Federal Judge: Medical Examiner Can Testify That Taser Caused Man’s Death
VALDOSTA, Ga. — The manufacturer of a Taser device on Sept. 15 lost its bid to exclude testimony from a medical examiner who opines that the deployment of the weapon was a contributing cause of a man’s death after a federal judge ruled that the testimony was not speculative and would be helpful to a jury.
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September 15, 2023
Parties Debate Admissibility Of Experts Under Daubert In Paraquat Litigation
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — The plaintiffs who sued the makers of the pesticide paraquat and the companies themselves have filed competing briefs in Illinois federal court debating the admissibility of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses under the Daubert standard. The defendants say the plaintiffs’ general causation expert “offers a masterclass in violating Rule 702,” and the plaintiffs contend that the defendants’ arguments “have no basis in Seventh Circuit authority.”
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September 13, 2023
Judge Says Insurer Has No Duty To Defend In Wrongful Death Suit Against Architect
TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge granted an insurer’s request for declaratory judgment that it has no duty to defend or indemnify its insured architect in a wrongful death suit filed against the architect by the family of a man who died while working on a construction project, finding that the architect “made material misrepresentations on the policy application that voided the policy under the rescission doctrine.”
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September 13, 2023
Judge Rules On 4 Motions To Exclude, Denies Summary Judgment In Injury Case
SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled that certain motions filed by Home Depot in a slip-and-fall case were attempts “to cloak an untimely discovery motion in the guise of a motion to exclude,” finding that experts retained by the man injured can testify.
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September 13, 2023
Judge Says Flint Plaintiffs’ Expert Opinion Is ‘Relevant And Admissible’
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A federal judge in Michigan who is presiding over the litigation related to the Flint lead-contaminated water crisis has denied an attempt by one of the defendants seeking to exclude a plaintiffs’ expert, ruling that his opinion is “relevant and admissible” because he opines only as to what the potential harm is, which is different from the issue of damages.
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September 12, 2023
Glyphosate Cancer Cases Remanded For Trial; Experts Survive Parties’ Opposition
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Sept. 11 remanded a glyphosate cancer lawsuit from the multidistrict litigation (MDL) for the herbicide Roundup to a federal court in Kentucky pursuant to a conditional remand order that covers multiple cases. In the case brought by the estate of Kenzie Elizabeth Murdock, the judge remanded after denying Monsanto Co.’s motion to exclude Murdock’s expert witness.
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September 11, 2023
Testimony In Metal-On-Metal Hip Replacement Device Case Limited In Federal Court
PHOENIX — An Arizona federal judge agreed to limit expert testimony offered by a man alleging that a defective “metal-on-metal” hip replacement device caused an injury and barred another expert who previously served as a consultant for the device manufacturer from testifying.