Mealey's Daubert : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Daubert

July 25, 2024
J&J Seeks To Exclude General Causation Experts In Asbestos-Talc MDL

TRENTON, N.J. — Experts in the asbestos-talc multidistrict litigation conveniently ignore causation evidence to the contrary and overinflate the science, and it is the court’s job as gatekeeper to ensure that such unreliable testimony does not reach the jury, Johnson & Johnson defendants tell a federal court in New Jersey in a motion to exclude general causation opinions.
July 25, 2024
Experts Featured In July 2024

Entries are ordered by the most recent ruling in each area of expert testimony.
July 25, 2024
New York Federal Judge Agrees To Limit Expert Testimony In Securities Fraud Case

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A New York federal judge partially granted the government’s motion to exclude expert witnesses retained by two men charged with securities and wire fraud after finding that some testimony is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
July 25, 2024
Magistrate Judge Partially Excludes Expert Testimony, Says Case Should Be Dismissed

DALLAS — A Texas federal magistrate judge found that an expert witness retained in a wrongful termination suit cannot offer opinions that are not based on facts in the record, partially granting a motion to exclude and in a separate order, recommended that the city be granted summary judgment and the case be dismissed with prejudice.
July 23, 2024
1st Circuit: No Error In Exclusion Of Expert In Suit Against School District

BOSTON — A district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding testimony from an expert who opined that the failure to properly implement a child’s individualized education program (IEP) caused an increase in the child’s seizure activity, the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said, affirming summary judgment for the school district.
July 23, 2024
4th Circuit Finds Lower Court Erred In Excluding Testimony In Pelvic Mesh Case

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 22 found that based on answers to questions certified to the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, a district court erred in excluding testimony from a woman’s expert in a pelvic mesh case and vacated a judgment that found in favor of the device manufacturer.
July 23, 2024
Judge OKs Expert Testimony For Disabled Veterans In Suit Against VA, Others

LOS ANGELES — Experts retained by disabled veterans who sued the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and its officials for failing to provide them the benefits to which they are entitled can testify, a California federal judge ruled, denying a motion to exclude.
July 22, 2024
S.C. Federal Judge Rules That Expert Can Testify In Tree Stand Injury Case

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A South Carolina federal judge denied a motion to exclude an expert who will testify that a tree stand manufacturer violated the standard of care, which led to a man being injured after the tree stand failed.
July 22, 2024
Florida Federal Judge Allows Rebuttal Witness In Trademark Infringement Dispute

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge rejected efforts to exclude a rebuttal witness retained to dispute another expert who opines on the likelihood of confusion between trademarks owned by competing aftermarket wheel manufacturers.
July 22, 2024
Judge In Written Order After Trial Says Expert On Sexual Grooming Admissible

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A New Mexico federal judge on July 19 said that “every appellate court to consider the issue, including the Tenth Circuit [U.S. Court of Appeals], permits expert testimony about grooming” in criminal cases against child sexual abusers and denied a motion to exclude that was filed before trial; the order was not released until after the man had been convicted.
July 19, 2024
Judge: Expert Testimony That Injuries Related To Crash Unsupported By Evidence

NEWARK, N.J. — An expert who opined that it is possible that a man suffered a stroke as a result of injuries he received during a tractor-trailer collision cannot testify because his conclusions do not meet to the standards set under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, Fed. R. Evid. 702, and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), a New Jersey federal judge ruled July 18.
July 19, 2024
Judge Allows Competing Medical, Use Of Force Experts In Case Filed By Inmate

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge ruled on competing motions to exclude medical and excessive force experts in a lawsuit filed by a man who alleges that he was injured while an inmate at a California state prison.
July 16, 2024
Judge Allows Expert To Opine If Speed Of Crash Supports Alleged Injuries

OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge on July 15 denied a couple’s motion to exclude testimony from an expert opining on the speed, impact, energy and severity of a collision, finding that the arguments for exclusion go to weight, not admissibility.
July 12, 2024
Acetaminophen Autism/ADHD MDL Judge Rejects Admissibility Of New Causation Expert

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge has granted a motion to exclude testimony from an expert opining that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen causes attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); the expert was retained after the judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation in December found that previously named experts were inadmissible.
July 11, 2024
Magistrate Judge OKs Expert Testimony In Case Alleging Death Stemmed From Crash

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida agreed to limit certain opinions offered by a medical examiner in a wrongful death suit stemming from an overdose of opioid medication but found that his other testimony is admissible and further ruled that a rebuttal witness can testify on possible causes of a woman’s injuries.
July 11, 2024
Mineral Rights Owners: Defense Expert Lacks Methodology, Evidence Rules Not Met

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mineral rights holders have filed a reply brief in Ohio federal court arguing that it should exclude the testimony of defense expert David M. Posner on grounds that he has “no discernible methodology and a limited factual basis for his opinions” and that the defendants failed to meet their burden of showing that it is more likely than not that Posner’s testimony will be admissible pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
July 10, 2024
Mississippi Federal Judge Allows Experts’ Testimony In Insurance Coverage Dispute

NATCHEZ, Miss. — A federal judge in Mississippi denied an insurer’s motion to exclude two experts retained by a couple alleging that they were not adequately reimbursed for storm damage and refused to grant summary judgment after finding that material issues are in dispute.
July 10, 2024
Excluding Expert, Judge Grants Summary Judgment Against Class In ERISA Fees Suit

PITTSBURGH — Excluding an expert whose testimony has had mixed fates under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals challenges in other courts, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled against a large class in granting summary judgment for PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and related defendants in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit over allegedly excessive record-keeping fees.
July 09, 2024
8th Circuit Affirms Ruling Finding Sleep Disorder Clinic Liable For FCA Violations

ST. LOUIS — The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed in part a district court’s ruling entering judgment in favor of a former employee of a sleep disorder clinic regarding his claims for False Claims Act (FCA) violations and related state law provisions as to the clinic’s overbilling of federal insurers and retaliation by firing him, finding that the lower court correctly rejected the “public disclosure defense” and did not abuse its discretion in admitting testimony pursuant to Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. but that it erred in applying a punitive sanction that was “excessive.”
July 05, 2024
Causation Expert Found Unreliable By Wash. Federal Judge In Slip-And-Fall Suit

SEATTLE — Because a woman’s causation expert “is not an expert in analyzing surveillance video,” she cannot testify in a slip-and-fall lawsuit because her opinion on the exact moment a woman’s knee hit the ground is not reliable under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Washington federal judge held.
July 05, 2024
Texas Appeals Court: Biomechanical Engineer Testimony Properly Excluded

DALLAS — While Texas courts do allow biomechanical engineers to offer expert testimony in car accident cases, a trial court did not err in excluding an expert who did not offer any evidence that the injuries allegedly sustained in a crash were inconsistent with the physical forces created in the collision, a state appeals court ruled in affirming a $700,000 verdict.
July 05, 2024
Expert On Drug Testing Regulations Cannot Offer Legal Conclusions, Judge Says

PHILADELPHIA — An expert retained by a practicing Muslim who is suing Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) for violating his constitutional rights by insisting that he drink water during Ramadan to undergo a drug test cannot offer legal conclusions, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled, limiting the expert’s testimony.
June 28, 2024
COMMENTARY: Courts Must, As Recently Reminded, Follow The Law In Rule 702 Expert Testimony Determinations

By Erin Sheley
July 02, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Use Of Consumer Survey In Trademark Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California did not abuse discretion by admitting a likelihood-of-confusion survey as expert evidence in a jury trial that ultimately found no likelihood of confusion between two trademarks used by business financing companies, a panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held July 1, affirming the grant of final judgment in the defendant company’s favor.
June 27, 2024
Federal Judge: Both Parties’ Causation Experts Are Out In Boating Injury Case

NEW ORLEANS — Reports by dueling experts who offer opposite opinions on who is at fault for a boating accident “are deficient in identical ways,” a Louisiana federal judge ruled, granting both parties’ motions to exclude.