Mealey's Daubert
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October 22, 2024
Federal Judge Allows Experts For Both Sides To Testify In Trade Secrets Suit
OMAHA, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge largely denied three motions to exclude expert testimony filed in a trade secrets dispute stemming from a case filed by a transportation broker for agricultural products against former employees who left to join a competitor.
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October 22, 2024
Crypto Asset Firm Cross-Appeals $120M Civil Penalty Ruling In Dispute With SEC
NEW YORK — A crypto asset firm filed a notice indicating that it is cross-appealing a New York federal court’s ruling that required it to pay more than $120 million as a civil penalty after granting the Securities and Exchange Commission’s motion for entry of final judgment on the commission’s allegations that cryptocurrencies sold by the firm were effectively unregistered securities.
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October 22, 2024
R.I. Justice: Experts Retained In Take-Home Asbestos Exposure Case Can Testify
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Rhode Island Superior Court justice largely refused to exclude two experts from testifying for the estate of a woman who claims that she contracted mesothelioma as a result of laundering her husband’s work clothes after finding that the experts’ conclusions that are based on the “each and every exposure” theory” are admissible under state law.
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October 22, 2024
No Error In Exclusion Of Expert During Murder Trial, Indiana Appeals Court Holds
INDIANAPOLIS — There was no abuse in discretion in a trial court’s decision to exclude an expert on gunshot residue because he was unqualified to opine on procedures at a criminal laboratory, the Indiana Court of Appeals court held, affirming a man’s conviction for murder.
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October 22, 2024
Iowa Federal Judge Denies Motion To Exclude Expert In FLSA Bench Trial
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — An Iowa federal judge said that because a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dispute will be resolved through a bench trial, excluding certain testimony from an expert witness retained to opine on damages is unnecessary.
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October 21, 2024
Causation Experts In Deepwater Injury Case Properly Excluded, 11th Circuit Says
ATLANTA — A district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding two experts retained by men who allege that they were injured as a result of exposure to crude oil and dispersants during the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and granting summary judgment in favor of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 18.
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October 21, 2024
Expert Can Testify In Bench Trial Over Alleged Discriminatory Rental Policies
INDIANAPOLIS — While recognizing a housing management’s concerns about an expert’s testimony in a case alleging that its policies violated state and federal fair housing laws, an Indiana federal magistrate judge denied a motion to exclude and ruled that the expert can testify at the upcoming bench trial.
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October 18, 2024
Michigan Appeals Court Finds No Abuse Of Discretion In Excluding Medical Expert
DETROIT — A Michigan trial court did not err in granting summary disposition to the defendants in a woman’s medical malpractice suit after finding that the woman’s expert failed to meet the admissibility standards under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and state law, a Michigan appeals court panel held.
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October 17, 2024
Panel Issues Split Ruling In Tire Trade Dress Suit On Discovery, Daubert, Privilege
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-running trade dress dispute between two tire companies, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel partly affirmed a trial court ruling, deeming the asserted trade dress functional and, therefore, not protectable and upholding discovery sanctions and expert testimony exclusion, while reversing in part by finding that litigation privilege barred the defendant’s counterclaims.
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October 16, 2024
Judge Rules Fingerprint Identification Expert Can Testify In Robbery Trial
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A fingerprint identification expert can testify in a man’s criminal robbery case, a New Mexico federal judge ruled, rejecting a man’s motion to exclude her testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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October 15, 2024
AI Evidence Requires Frye Hearing, New York Surrogate Court Judge Says
BALLSTON SPA, N.Y. — Given the inherent reliability issues of any evidence created through the use of artificial intelligence, any such use requires not only court disclosure but a Frye hearing, a New York surrogate court judge said while ruling that he could not blindly accept an expert’s AI-based damages calculations.
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October 15, 2024
Judge Admits Marine Engineering Expert In Asbestos Sovereign Immunity Case
NEW ORLEANS — After denying reconsideration and precluding a man from relying on a settled party’s experts, a federal judge in Louisiana turned away challenges to a marine engineering expert, saying the expert’s knowledge about Navy shipbuilding practices and asbestos is likely to be helpful to a jury on the issue of derivative sovereign immunity.
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October 11, 2024
3rd Circuit: No Error In Forensic Accounting Expert Testimony, Attorney Fees
PHILADELPHIA — There was no error in a district court’s ruling that allowed a forensic accountant to testify as an expert witness in a breach of fiduciary duty case or in its award of attorney fees, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said.
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October 11, 2024
Wash. Federal Judge: Expert Can Opine On Claims Handling In Suit Against Insurer
SEATTLE — A Washington federal judge ruled that a woman’s claims handling expert can testify in her suit against her insurer after finding that he meets the admissibility standards under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Federal Rule of Evidence 702 but cautioned that testimony that offers legal conclusions is prohibited.
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October 10, 2024
Judge Largely Denies Bid To Seal Order Certifying Class In Gun Barrel Defect Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted in part and denied in part a motion to seal his recent order certifying a class action accusing the manufacturers of Glock handguns of violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws by failing to warn consumers of an alleged barrel defect, agreeing to seal one sentence but finding that the other disputed information in the ruling was already “discussed in the public hearing.”
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October 09, 2024
Testimony On Child’s Sexual Abuse OK’d In Case Against School Board, Bus Monitor
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge denied a motion to exclude testimony based on a forensic child sexual abuse interview after finding that the expert’s testimony is reliable and will assist a jury, also citing the expert’s previously allowed testimony in related cases.
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October 08, 2024
In Dissent, Mich. Justice Says Court Should Weigh In On Testimony’s Admissibility
LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan Supreme Court justice dissented from the court’s decision to deny a man’s leave to appeal a trial court’s decision to reject his request for a hearing on the admissibility of an expert under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., saying the “defendant has raised jurisprudentially significant questions.”
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October 03, 2024
Ruling Allows Asbestos Experts, Rejects Defenses And 4 Summary Judgment Motions
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California addressing a handful of motions involving Daubert challenges and various requests for summary judgment admitted a co-worker’s deposition testimony, said the plaintiffs’ experts did not offer the opinion that every exposure to asbestos leads to disease, denied four defendants summary judgment but found that sufficient evidence exists to grant the plaintiffs summary judgment on the sophisticated user and sophisticated intermediary defenses.
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October 01, 2024
Louisiana Court Reinstates Industrial Hygiene Opinion In Household Asbestos Case
NEW ORLEANS — The evidence an asbestos industrial hygiene expert relied on for his conclusion that a woman experienced significant household exposures goes to the weight of that testimony and not its admissibility, a Louisiana appeals court said in granting an emergency appeal and reversing a motion to exclude.
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September 30, 2024
Judge Says ‘No Choice’ But To Grant Judgment To Meta In Adult Entertainers Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted summary judgment to Meta Platforms Inc. in a putative class action filed by adult entertainment (AE) performers alleging tortious interference and unfair competition in blacklisting social media posts by most AE providers in favor of the OnlyFans AE platform, finding that despite Meta’s “questionable recordkeeping,” the plaintiffs failed to show that questions remain regarding issues of material fact.
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September 27, 2024
Judge: Tattoo Artist Did Not Show How Game Makers’ Infringement Caused Damages
EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. — An Illinois federal judge held that the developers of wrestling video games are not entitled to judgment as a matter of law after a jury determined that they are liable for copyright infringement of a tattoo artist’s work through their depictions in-game of a tattooed wrestling star, but they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law on damages because the artist presented no evidence at trial to support the award of damages.
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September 26, 2024
Federal Circuit Grants Google’s Petition For Rehearing Of Patent Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Sept. 25 that it will reconsider its June opinion leaving in place findings by a jury empaneled in a Texas federal court that Google LLC infringed smart thermostat technology to the tune of $20 million in damages owed to a patent owner, granting Google’s petition for en banc rehearing.
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September 24, 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 May, June, July, August and September 2024 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.
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September 24, 2024
Appeals Court: No Error In Expert Testimony Rulings; Conviction Affirmed
ATLANTA — There was no abuse of discretion in a district court’s decision to deny a man’s request for a hearing to determine the admissibility of the government’s expert under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. nor in excluding his expert from testifying, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in affirming a criminal conviction.
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September 23, 2024
Arborists Can Opine For Both Sides On Reasonable Tree Removal Safety, Judge Says
NEW ORLEANS — Dueling arborists can both testify in a case alleging that a tree-cutting company’s employee negligently allowed a tree to fall into traffic, causing injuries to a driver, a Louisiana federal judge ruled.