Mealey's Daubert
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September 19, 2024
Parties Ask Court For Summary Judgment In Defective Birth Control Device Case
CHICAGO — A woman who claims that she was injured by a defective birth control device and the manufacturer, distributor and parent company of that device filed competing motions seeking to exclude experts and asking for summary judgment in an Illinois federal court.
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September 19, 2024
Va. Federal Judge: Lost Profits Expert Can Testify In Suit Alleging Defamation
RICHMOND, Va. — An expert retained to opine on an insurance claim adjustment company’s economic loss after allegedly defaming statements were made to its customers by an online payment company can testify, a Virginia federal judge ruled.
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September 18, 2024
Kansas Appeals Court Finds Expert Opining On Birds’ Deaths Properly Excluded
TOPEKA, Kan. — A Kansas appeals court found no error in a trial court in awarding summary judgment to an animal feed company after excluding experts retained by a farm that alleged that defective feed caused the death of almost 25,000 birds.
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September 13, 2024
Summary Judgment Bid Largely Fails In ERISA Class Row Over Proprietary Funds
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal judge has mostly denied summary judgment in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action challenging the selection and retention of proprietary funds, also denying the defendants’ requests to partly exclude the opinions and exhibits of two of the plaintiffs’ experts.
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September 13, 2024
Magistrate Recommends Granting 2 Motions To Exclude Experts For Rule 26 Violations
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — A federal magistrate judge in New Mexico recommended that two experts retained by a man alleging that he was injured in a police shootout be barred from testifying for failing to timely explain how the experts reached their conclusions.
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September 12, 2024
Experts In College Admission Case Challenging Racial Preferences Can Testify
BALTIMORE — Experts retained by an organization that alleges that the U.S. Naval Academy unconstitutionally considers race as a factor in admissions can testify after a federal judge in Maryland largely denied a motion to exclude.
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September 11, 2024
5th Circuit Affirms Win For BP In Deepwater Injury Case; Expert Properly Excluded
NEW ORLEANS — A lower court did not err in excluding a man’s causation expert in a Deepwater Horizon oil spill injury case, the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled, affirming a summary judgment award in favor of BP Exploration & Production Inc. and its affiliates.
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September 10, 2024
Judge Allows Experts’ Opinions On LLMs In Alexa Patent Case
RICHMOND, Va. — An expert’s opinions on the availability of large language models (LLMs) when Amazon.com first released its Alexa assistant product are admissible, a federal judge in Virginia said in denying three motions to exclude under Daubert in a patent infringement lawsuit.
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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.