Mealey's Daubert
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September 10, 2024
Judge: Experts Can Testify For Woman Who Alleges She Was Sold Defective Horse
ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal judge ruled that testimony from an expert retained by a woman who alleges that sellers of a horse misrepresented the animal’s medical condition, causing the woman to pay more than what the horse is worth, is mostly admissible.
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September 09, 2024
Georgia Defendants: Court Erred In Allowing Expert’s Cumulative Exposure Opinion
ATLANTA — A trial court improperly admitted expert testimony that cumulative exposures to asbestos increased a man’s risk of mesothelioma, ignored other testimony indicating that the man’s employers could have learned of the risks and then denied summary judgment despite the lack of admissible causation evidence, premises owners tell the Georgia Court of Appeals.
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September 06, 2024
Magistrate Judge Allows Rebuttal Witness, 2nd Report In COVID-19 Class Suit
EUGENE, Ore. — An Oregon federal magistrate judge on Sept. 5 ruled that a rebuttal witness on ventilation systems can testify for state officials facing a class action from a group of inmates in Oregon prison who allege that they were subjected to cruel and unusual punishment when state officials failed to protect them from heightened exposure to COVID-19.
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September 06, 2024
Testimony From Officer’s Expert On Man’s Injuries Limited In Use Of Force Case
BOISE, Idaho — An expert retained by a police officer who is facing allegations that he violated a man’s constitutional rights during an arrest cannot testify about the cause of his injuries because his conclusions are not based on facts in evidence, an Idaho federal judge ruled.
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September 05, 2024
Judge Largely Allows Asbestos Expert’s Cumulative Exposure Opinions
TAMPA, Fla. — To the extent an asbestos expert’s opinion that cumulative exposures increased the risk of a man’s lung cancer includes consideration of whether the exposures exceeded a de minimis amount, the opinion is reliable and admissible, a federal judge in Florida said in partly denying two motions to exclude.
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September 04, 2024
Dog Supplement Makers Seek Stay To Petition High Court After Class Ruling
PASADENA, Calif. — The makers of Cosequin, a pet supplement, filed a motion in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay the mandate pending filing of a petition for writ of certiorari; the motion comes about a week after the panel issued an amended opinion affirming a trial court’s grant of class certification to consumers who allege that the products they bought were falsely marketed as improving joint health.
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September 03, 2024
6th Circuit Says Lower Court Erred In Excluding Testimony On Type Of Fence Needed
CINCINNATI — A lower court erred in excluding testimony from a physician who opined that a child with special needs needed a 6-foot wooden privacy fence that was prohibited under regulations by a homeowners association (HOA), the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in reversing summary judgment and remanding the case.
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August 28, 2024
Federal Judge Partially OKs Expert Exclusion Case Remanded From Pelvic Mesh MDL
LEXINGTON, Ky. — A Kentucky federal judge on Aug. 27 partially granted a motion to exclude expert testimony in a long-running case against a pelvic mesh manufacturer after previously ruling that the expert was properly designated and granting the manufacturer permission to move to exclude his general causation opinions under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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August 27, 2024
Experts Featured In Mealey's Daubert Report
Entries are ordered in alphabetical order of the expert in each area of expert testimony. Experts appeared in the June, July and August 2024 issues.
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August 27, 2024
Arkansas Federal Judge Rules Firearms Expert Cannot Testify On Misfired Pistol
EL DORADO, Ark. — An expert who opines that it is possible for a firearm to accidentally fire when dropped cannot testify because he failed to base his conclusions on a reliable methodology as required under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, an Arkansas federal judge ruled.
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August 27, 2024
Expert May Testify On Economic Losses In Excessive Force Suit Against Police
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — An expert who opined on the economic loss a man suffered due to two police officers using excessive force during his arrest may testify, a Florida federal judge ruled, finding that a late-disclosed report was justified and that the majority of his opinions meet federal admissibility standards.
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August 26, 2024
Loan Expert Admissible In Case Alleging Insurance Policy Canceled By Negligence
PHOENIX — An expert retained by a couple who learned after a fire destroyed their home that their homeowners insurance policy had been canceled can testify in the case against the mortgage companies and broker who the couple said improperly failed to pay the premiums, an Arizona federal judge ruled Aug. 23.
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August 26, 2024
Bench Trial Yields Ruling For Defendants In ERISA Fees, Funds Challenge
SANTA ANA, Calif. — Noting in part that that she afforded “little to no weight” to the testimony of two of the class’s experts, a California federal judge ruled for the defendants on all claims after a bench trial, in a consolidated Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over 401(k) fees and funds.
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August 23, 2024
Indiana Federal Judge Bars Excessive Force Expert In Case Stemming From Arrest
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — An Indiana federal judge granted a motion to exclude an expert retained by a woman asserting civil rights violations stemming from her arrest by South Bend, Ind., police officers after finding that his opinions do not apply to the case after the judge granted summary judgment on the majority of the claims.
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August 22, 2024
Judge Says Insurer Based Argument For Expert Exclusion On Incorrect Statement
OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma federal judge found that an insurer based its argument that an expert in a coverage dispute should be excluded on “an incorrect factual premise” and ruled that the construction expert can testify on the hail and wind damage to an insured’s home.
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August 22, 2024
Magistrate: Expert Can Testify On Causal Link Of School’s Actions To Suicide
BRUNSWICK, Ga. — A psychology expert retained by the mother of a child who she says committed suicide after his school failed to respond to multiple bullying incidents can testify on factors that contributed to the son’s death, a federal magistrate judge in Georgia ruled Aug. 21, denying the school district’s motion to exclude.
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August 22, 2024
Acetaminophen Autism/ADHD Judge Says Causation Not Proven, Grants Summary Judgment
NEW YORK — The New York federal judge overseeing the acetaminophen autism spectrum disorder-attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ASD-ADHD) multidistrict litigation, who recently found an expert retained by parents who allege that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen causes ADHD to be inadmissible, awarded summary judgment to the defendants after rejecting the plaintiffs’ argument that statements made by the defendants’ expert could use to prove causation.
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August 20, 2024
Expert Testimony Properly Admitted But Minnesota Appeals Court Orders New Trial
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals court, guided by a recent state Supreme Court decision, on Aug. 19 found that a prosecutor’s statement that the “‘presumption of innocence is gone’” constitutes reversible plain error in a criminal sexual assault case but ruled that there was no error in allowing a forensic interviewer to testify.
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August 12, 2024
Maine High Court: No Error In Allowing Expert To Testify In Child Sex Abuse Case
PORTLAND, Maine — The Maine Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a man’s criminal conviction for sexually assaulting his daughter and stepdaughter after finding no error in the trial court’s decision to allow an expert on forensic interviews to testify on the delayed disclosure of child sexual abuse.
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August 09, 2024
Magistrate Excludes Defense Witnesses, Allows Plaintiffs’ Expert To Testify
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Two doctors in a medical malpractice suit on Aug. 8 asked a federal magistrate judge in Puerto Rico to reconsider his order excluding their expert witnesses, who would testify on whether the standard of care was breached while treating a man who later died after ingesting glyphosate.
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August 06, 2024
Expert Testimony In AI Copyright Suit Largely Admitted By Judge
WILMINGTON, Del. — That a small portion of an expert’s opinion involves relatively simple math and the availability of statutory damages is not grounds to exclude the testimony, but a defense expert who relies on simplified data and hypotheticals about income for his opinions on disgorgement and lost profits must be excluded from an artificial intelligence copyright suit, a federal judge in Delaware said in ruling on the admissibility of several expert witnesses.
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August 05, 2024
Magistrate Judge Rejects Immunity, Contractor Defense In Helicopter Asbestos Case
WILMINGTON, Del. — Two helicopter defendants saw different results in an asbestos case, with a magistrate judge on Aug. 2 recommending that one be dismissed but leaving claims against the second, Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., after criticizing its filing but concluding that a widow’s case against it survives because the evidence suggests that it knew that its aircraft contained asbestos and that the federal contractor defense and derivative sovereign immunity would not bar the claims.
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August 05, 2024
Defense Expert On Medical Standards Properly Admitted In Malpractice Suit In Georgia
ATLANTA — A Georgia appeals court on Aug. 2 found that a trial court properly allowed expert testimony under the state’s admission standards and affirmed a defense verdict in a medical malpractice suit.
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August 05, 2024
3rd Circuit Appeal Filed Over Summary Judgment, Exclusion Ruling In ERISA Fees Row
PHILADELPHIA — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees is being taken to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, with the named plaintiff filing a notice of appeal regarding a denial of summary judgment ruling that involved excluding an expert whose testimony has had mixed fates under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals challenges in other courts.
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August 02, 2024
Expert Did Not Connect Injuries To Malpractice; Summary Judgment Affirmed
PHILADELPHIA — Because an expert for parents did not causally connect the deprivation of oxygen during their child’s delivery to his diagnosis of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a district court properly excluded the expert’s testimony and did not err in awarding summary judgment on the medical malpractice claims, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.