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Mealey's Daubert

  • May 09, 2025

    Firearms Expert Lacks Experience To Opine In Criminal Case, Federal Judge Says

    DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge issued a written order excluding a firearms expert retained by a man who was later convicted of charges connected to his possession of a machine gun after the judge orally granted the government’s motion during the trial.

  • May 08, 2025

    La. Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment Award Based On Experts’ Exclusion

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appellate court found that a lower court erred in excluding expert testimony and awarding summary judgment in a legal malpractice suit, finding that Louisiana law requires that a court hear and dispose of challenges to the admissibility of experts under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. before a summary judgment hearing.

  • May 07, 2025

    Plaintiffs’ Experts Allowed In Baby Formula MDL But 1st Bellwether Case Dismissed

    CHICAGO — Experts retained by parents suing the manufacturers of infant formula that they allege caused preterm infants to develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) can testify in the multidistrict litigation in an Illinois federal court, the judge overseeing the MDL ruled, but in a separate order the same day, she granted a manufacturer summary judgment in the first bellwether case set for trial.

  • May 06, 2025

    Judge: 1 Expert Out, Another Expert’s Testimony Limited In Marine Injury Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge barred a marine expert retained by a man who alleges that he was injured while working aboard a vessel from testifying and limited testimony from an expert retained by the vessel’s owner and operator, finding that the excluded testimony at issue is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • May 05, 2025

    Class Largely Prevails On Summary Judgment In ERISA Early Retirement Row

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action is headed toward a bench trial on just a few remaining claims after a Kansas federal judge resolved exclusion and partial summary judgment motions, ruling in part that the plan at issue “does not permit Defendants to deny early retirement benefits regardless of the type of work the participants perform for Covered Employers.”

  • May 02, 2025

    Ala. Federal Judge: Expert Who Opines Defective Ladder Caused Injuries Excluded

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge on May 1 granted summary judgment to a ladder manufacturer after finding that testimony by an expert retained by a man who alleges that defects to the ladder caused him to be injured is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • May 02, 2025

    Judge Rules On Admissibility Of Experts In Suit Alleging Childhood Sexual Abuse

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled on a series of competing motions to exclude experts in a suit filed by former residents of a state-licensed group home who allege that they were sexually abused, finding that some of the proposed testimony is inadmissible.

  • April 30, 2025

    Fisher-Price, Mattel: Del. Judge Erred In Admitting Experts Based On Other Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Fisher-Price Inc. and its corporate parent, Mattel Inc., are urging a Delaware state court to reconsider its denial of several motions seeking to exclude testimony from experts retained by a couple suing over the death of their daughter, who died after being placed in the now recalled Rock ’n Play Sleeper, arguing that the court erred in deferring and adopting decisions reached in another case involving the same product.

  • April 25, 2025

    Experts Allowed In Crash Suit, Judge Says, Also Ruling On What Can Be Said At Trial

    BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge ruled on a series of motions relating to the exclusion of expert testimony and other evidence in a lawsuit stemming from a car accident, with the judge finding that experts retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured can testify on the extent of her medical needs and the costs associated with that treatment.

  • April 25, 2025

    Plaintiffs Oppose Monsanto’s Bid For Reconsideration Of Order On Expert Witnesses

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation for injuries related to exposure to the herbicide Roundup on April 24 filed multiple briefs in California federal court opposing Monsanto’s request for reconsideration of several pretrial orders that denied Monsanto’s motions to exclude five of the plaintiffs’ experts.  In one of the briefs, plaintiff Douglas Harris argues that Monsanto’s motion for reconsideration is based on the argument that the district court “fundamentally misunderstands” Daubert v Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals.

  • April 25, 2025

    Judge Denies Motion To Exclude Medical Expert From Testifying On Inmate’s Injuries

    FRESNO, Calif. — An expert retained by a nurse in a civil rights violation case to opine on how a woman was injured while incarcerated can testify, a California federal judge ruled, though specifying that the expert cannot offer testimony that would be considered legal conclusions.

  • April 24, 2025

    Expert’s ChatGPT Usage Not Grounds To Exclude, Judge Says

    LONG ISLAND, N.Y. — An expert’s use of artificial intelligence ChatGPT to confirm his opinions in a product defect case does not warrant his exclusion nor does his lack of an engineering degree mean that he doesn’t qualify as an expert, a federal judge in New York said April 23 in denying a tool retailer’s motion.

  • April 22, 2025

    Experts Featured In Mealey's Daubert Report

    Entries are in alphabetical order of the expert in each area of expert testimony.  Experts appeared in the January, February, March and April 2025 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.

  • April 21, 2025

    Louisiana Federal Judge Excludes 1 Expert, Limits Another In Civil Rights Case

    NEW ORLEANS — An expert retained by a man freed after serving 28 years in prison for murder cannot opine on whether the standard of care regarding a prosecutor’s duty to disclose exculpatory information was breached, a Louisiana federal judge ruled.

  • April 18, 2025

    Judge: Expert Cannot Opine On Value Of Appraisal In Racial Discrimination Suit

    BALTIMORE — A sociologist retained by a couple alleging that an appraisal company discriminated against them by undervaluing their home because of their race can opine that the company deviated from its general practices but cannot testify on the validity of the appraisal, a Maryland federal judge said April 17.

  • April 16, 2025

    Court Rejects Appeal In Gun Case But Toolmark Evidence Admissibility Questioned

    LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court declined to review an appeals court decision that denied a man’s request for a new trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel, but one justice filed a concurrence, noting that the court “has yet to evaluate whether toolmark evidence, and especially casings-matching evidence, is sufficiently reliable under” state and federal rules of evidence.

  • April 16, 2025

    CPA Can Opine On Damages In Breach Of Confidential Settlement Agreement Case

    MIAMI — A Florida federal judge ruled on a motion to exclude three expert witnesses in a breach of a settlement agreement case that will proceed to a trial for damages, finding that an expert can testify on a man’s economic losses but that testimony from two psychologists is unneeded.

  • April 15, 2025

    Arkansas Federal Judge Says Woman’s Experts Can Testify In Slip-And-Fall Case

    FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two experts retained by a woman who alleges that she was injured after falling in an Outback Steakhouse restaurant can testify, an Arkansas federal judge held, finding that the company’s arguments for their exclusion went to weight and not admissibility under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • April 11, 2025

    Federal Judge Allows Insurers’ Expert Testimony In Hail Damage Coverage Dispute

    DALLAS — Experts retained by an insurance company in a dispute over coverage for hail storm damage did not “rely on an extracontractual definition of cosmetic or functional damage to reach their conclusions,” a Texas federal judge ruled April 10 in denying a motion to exclude.

  • April 10, 2025

    Mich. Appeals Court: No Error In Limiting Expert’s Testimony In Lawn Care Accident

    LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Court of Appeals on April 9 affirmed a defense verdict for a landscaping business accused of negligence that caused a man’s injuries, finding no error in the trial court’s decision to partially exclude portions of the man’s expert’s testimony.

  • April 09, 2025

    Judge Rules That Certain Experts Can Testify But Cannot Offer Legal Conclusions

    SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled on a series of motions to exclude expert witnesses retained for parties involved in a suit alleging that a man spent nine years in pretrial detention for a murder he did not commit.

  • April 09, 2025

    Valsartan MDL Judge Says Full Refund Not Required, Expert On Damages Excluded

    CAMDEN, N.J. — An expert retained by the third-party payer (TPP) trial plaintiffs in the valsartan/losartan/irbesartan hypertension drugs multidistrict litigation is barred from testifying on damages, the MDL judge said, also finding that the plaintiffs are not entitled a full refund as a matter of law.

  • April 08, 2025

    Judge: Woman’s Expert Meets Requirements To Testify In Medical Malpractice Suit

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee federal judge denied efforts from two doctors who moved to exclude a woman’s expert from opining on the standard of care in a medical malpractice suit, finding that the expert adequately satisfied the state’s the “locality requirement.”

  • April 07, 2025

    Judge Handles Exclusion Bids, Denies Summary Judgment In Excessive Fee Case

    WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A class action over a retirement plan’s record-keeping fees and share classes is progressing toward a bench trial after a North Carolina federal judge granted two of the defendant’s three reliability challenges as to expert opinions and then cited competing expert opinions in denying summary judgment.

  • April 03, 2025

    Fire Investigation Expert Out In Case Alleging Maserati Sparked Fire In Garage

    NEWARK, N.J. — A fire investigator who opined that a fire in the garage of a home rented by professional basketball player Tyrese Maxey was possibly caused by a malfunction in his 2018 Maserati GranTurismo is unreliable, a New Jersey federal judge held, granting summary judgment to the car manufacturer.