No Daubert Hearing Equals $10 Million Error in 9th Circuit

The U.S. Supreme Court isn’t the only judicial panel to wrestle with difficult Daubert questions lately.

While the Supreme Court ponders the potential fate of Daubert’s role in certifying a class, on the opposite side of the country the 9th Circuit has decided a case that makes failure to hold a Daubert hearing a very costly error in that regional jurisdiction.

In a decision published November 16, 2012, the 9th Circuit panel has held that a district court’s failure to hold a Daubert hearing or otherwise determine the relevance and reliability of expert testimony was an abuse of discretion, resulting in reversible error which dictated a new trial.