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Mealey's Daubert

  • November 14, 2025

    8th Circuit: Court Did Not Abuse Its Discretion By Excluding Insured’s Expert

    ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals determined that a lower federal court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the opinion of an insured’s expert in the insured’s breach of contract lawsuit alleging that its commercial building was damaged by water intrusion during a storm, affirming the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer.

  • November 13, 2025

    Monsanto: Plaintiffs’ Expert’s Opinions In Glyphosate Cancer Case Are ‘Unreliable’

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Monsanto Co. has filed a reply brief in Delaware state court arguing that the plaintiffs’ opposition to the proposed exclusion of their expert in their glyphosate cancer lawsuit “fails to rectify the fundamental issues” with the expert’s “unreliable opinions and fails to adequately rebut” the arguments Monsanto made in its motion to exclude the expert’s testimony.

  • November 13, 2025

    Md. Federal Judge: Treating Physician Cannot Testify That Accident Made TMJ Worse

    BALTIMORE — A treating physician cannot testify that a car accident exacerbated a woman’s existing temporomandibular joint disorder (TMJ) because that conclusion is speculative and not based on a reliable methodology, a Maryland federal judge held.

  • November 12, 2025

    Damages Expert Excluded In Dispute Over In-Game Purchases In Mobile Application

    SEATTLE — An expert retained by a pair of consumers who seek to represent a class of others who were allegedly deceived into making in-game purchases while playing online gambling games cannot opine on models used to calculate damages, a Washington federal judge ruled, finding that the expert has not demonstrated how he is qualified under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.

  • November 11, 2025

    Group Says Government’s Bid To Nix DCE Claims In Camp Lejeune Case Is ‘Improper’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation in North Carolina federal court on Nov. 10 filed a brief arguing that the U.S. government’s motion seeking summary judgment dismissal on all claims alleging that dichloroethylene (DCE) caused any of the Track 1 diseases is “improper.” The PLG argues that the government’s motion is “scientifically untenable” because “it is a scientific fact that DCE was present in the Camp Lejeune water that Plaintiffs drank.”

  • November 11, 2025

    Valsartan MDL Judge Excludes Causation Expert, Dismisses 1st Bellwether Case

    CAMDEN, N.J. — The first bellwether case in the valsartan, losartan and irbesartan hypertension drugs multidistrict litigation was dismissed with prejudice on Nov. 10 after the New Jersey federal judge overseeing the MDL found that testimony from the plaintiff’s expert that ruled out other causes of a man’s liver cancer was “nothing more than speculative ipse dixit.”

  • November 07, 2025

    Testimony On Credit Reporting Policies Limited, Experts Can’t Opine On Damages

    LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge agreed to limit testimony from two experts retained by a man who sued a credit reporting agency for repeatedly reporting inaccurate information after finding that portions of the experts’ testimony was beyond their expertise.

  • November 04, 2025

    Judge Limits Expert Testimony In Racial Discrimination Suit Against Police Officer

    PHILADELPHIA — A woman’s racial discrimination expert cannot testify in her suit against a Pennsylvania police officer for discrimination and emotional distress due to a late disclosure, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, also agreeing to limit testimony for her other experts.

  • November 04, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Finds Wrong Standard Applied In Exclusion Of Causation Experts

    ATLANTA — A Georgia trial court applied the incorrect standard for determining the admissibility of expert testimony on general causation in a case alleging that exposure to ethylene oxide caused cancers and birth defects, a Georgia appeals court ruled in a consolidated appeal, vacating an order that allowed testimony from one expert but barred it from two others.

  • October 29, 2025

    Judge Grants Apple’s Motion To Decertify Class In IPhone App Antitrust Suit

    OAKLAND, Calif. — A California federal judge granted Apple’s motion to decertify the class and to exclude expert testimony in consumers’ suit alleging anticompetitive practices by the tech giant related to apps and in-app purchases (IAPs), finding that the plaintiffs failed to provide a model to accurately calculate damages and that the testimony is not relevant.

  • October 29, 2025

    Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Expert In Camp Lejeune Water Case Showed ‘Extraordinary Bias’

    RALEIGH, N.C. — The Plaintiffs’ Leadership Group (PLG) in the Camp Lejeune water crisis multidistrict litigation in North Carolina federal court on Oct. 28 filed a brief arguing that the U.S. government’s general causation expert should be excluded because she failed to apply the correct standard under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act (CLJA) and because she “has demonstrated a lack of objectivity and extraordinary bias.”

  • October 29, 2025

    Cancer Plaintiff Says Expert Meets Daubert Standard In Glyphosate Cancer Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a lawsuit alleging harm from exposure to the herbicide Roundup, the plaintiff has filed a brief in California federal court arguing that, contrary to the contention of Monsanto Co., the report and testimony of the plaintiff’s expert Mark Levin satisfy Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms.

  • October 28, 2025

    Expert In Glyphosate Case Against Monsanto Is Admissible, Plaintiffs Say

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A couple who sued Monsanto Co. alleging that the husband developed cancer from exposure to the herbicide Roundup filed a brief in Delaware state court on Oct. 27 opposing Monsanto’s motion seeking exclusion of one of their expert witnesses, arguing that Monsanto’s challenge pertains to methodology, not admissibility.

  • October 27, 2025

    7th Circuit Says Experts Did Not Prove Causation, Affirms Summary Judgment

    CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for Lands’ End Inc. and Lands’ End Outfitters Inc. (together, Lands’ End) in a suit brought by airline employees who alleged that their uniforms caused symptoms such as rashes, headaches and hair loss, finding that none of the employees’ experts proved causation and that the employees also failed to abide by the warranty's terms.

  • October 21, 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, April, May, June, July, August, September and October 2025 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.

  • October 21, 2025

    California Asbestos-Talc Bellwether Parties Brief General Causation

    LOS ANGELES — Plaintiffs in consolidated talc litigation in California told the judge that their experts’ general causation opinions involving talc and asbestos are supported by the evidence and regulatory bodies and should not be excluded.  Johnson & Johnson and Red River Talc LLC filed replies arguing that the plaintiffs are misrepresenting the situation.

  • October 20, 2025

    Judge: Experts Who Opine Apartment Complex Owners Are Liable For Death Can Testify

    COLUMBUS, Ga. — Experts who support a woman’s claim that negligence by the operators of an apartment complex directly caused a fire that killed a man can testify, a federal judge in Georgia ruled, also rejecting a motion from the complex for partial summary judgment.

  • October 20, 2025

    Judge: Expert Can’t Testify Fan Was Not Defective Based On Unreliable Methodology

    DENVER — An expert for an exhaust fan manufacturer cannot opine that a fan that an insurance company alleges was the cause of a house fire was not defectively designed because he lacks the expertise to make that conclusion and because his opinions are based on an unreliable methodology, a Colorado federal judge held.

  • October 20, 2025

    Judge Says Expert Testimony Must Fit Disputed Facts, Limits What Is Admissible

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware agreed to limit testimony from an expert retained in a dispute over a contract for olivetol, an ingredient used in the manufacture of pharmaceutical products, finding that portions of the testimony lack a reliable methodology and cross into impermissible legal conclusions.

  • October 20, 2025

    No High Court Review Of En Banc Federal Circuit’s Vacating Of Patent Damages

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Oct. 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a smart thermostat company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, in which the company told the high court that the en banc Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to order a Texas federal judge to hold a new trial on damages wrongly eschewed the jury’s factual findings in its favor in a patent dispute with Google LLC.

  • October 17, 2025

    Airline’s Economic Loss Expert Admissible To Opine In Dispute Over Grounded Planes

    SEATTLE — An expert can opine on behalf of a Polish airline on economic losses it endured when aviation officials grounded an aircraft manufactured by the Boeing Co. after reports of fatal crashes, a Washington federal judge said.

  • October 17, 2025

    Federal Judge In Okla. Says Expert Can Testify In Suit Alleging Man Died In Custody

    OKLAHOMA CITY — An emergency room physician can opine on whether a jail’s staff met the medical needs of a man who died in custody but cannot offer legal conclusions, a judge held in Oklahoma federal court.

  • October 17, 2025

    Panel: No Error In Excluding Testimony On Mental Health In Hate Crime Conviction

    RICHMOND, Va. — A man was convicted of two federal hate crimes “because there was a mountain of evidence that he assaulted his victims because of their race, color, and national origin,” the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found, rejecting the man’s argument that the trial court erred in refusing to allow an expert to opine on his mental health.

  • October 15, 2025

    Judge: Experts On Design, Future Medical Needs Can Testify In Broken Walker Case

    PHILADELPHIA — The manufacturer of a Rollator walker that a woman says collapsed unexpectedly and caused her to injure her shoulder lost its bid for summary judgment after a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled that the woman’s experts are qualified to testify about design defects and future medical costs.

  • October 15, 2025

    Fla. Federal Judge Says Hotel Security Expert Can Testify In Sex Trafficking Case

    ORLANDO, Fla. — A hotel security expert retained by a woman who sued the owner and operator of a hotel where here she was a victim of sex trafficking can testify, but a Florida federal judge agreed that certain opinions are inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.