Federal Rule of Evidence 702 - The admission of expert testimony in federal courts is governed by Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Effective December 1, 2023, Rule 702 was amended to clarify the “preponderance of...more
Michael and Melissa Sullivan v. Werner Company, et al., No. 18 EAP 2022, 2023 WL 8859656 (Pa. 2023) - The plaintiff was injured at a jobsite when the platform of a six-foot tall mobile scaffold collapsed, causing him to fall...more
Amid the continued expansion of the right to evidence, the court reversed its previous position that evidence obtained through unfair methods was inadmissible. When asked to re-examine the relationship between the right...more
D.R. by Rodriguez v. Santos Bakery, Inc., No. 20-CV-3628 (KHP), 2023 WL 3736441 (S.D.N.Y. May 31, 2023) - This decision relates to several motions in limine and the Southern District Court’s determination as to what evidence...more
Motions in limine (“on or at the threshold” or “in the beginning”) can be a useful tool in a trial lawyer’s hands. Used strategically and prophylactically, they can “eliminate the noise surrounding” a trial by preventing an...more
Judge Frederick E. Clement of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of California recently held that affidavits with a computer-generated signature are insufficient and hold no evidentiary value pursuant...more
The inadmissibility of hearsay is well-established. “‘Hearsay’ is a statement, other than one made by the declarant while testifying at [a] trial or hearing, offered in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted.” If...more
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana - As previously reported on Asbestos Case Tracker, plaintiff Frank Ragusa alleges that he developed mesothelioma from asbestos exposure. Defendant Huntington...more
Court: Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division Decedent Joseph Murray worked for the defendant Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) from 1976 to 2011 as a brakeman/conductor. His wife filed a wrongful death and...more
If there’s one thing readers of this blog can count on, it is that every even-numbered year ends with a gush of opinions from both appellate courts as the judges and justices strive to finish the year’s work before new...more
A recent 104-page opinion from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Carrizosa v. Chiquita Brands International Inc. provides a tutorial on a wide variety of federal evidentiary, summary judgment, expert, and preservation...more
While creativity has its place in advocacy, it can be taken too far. The Petitioner learned this lesson the hard way in Unified Patents Inc. v. American Patents LLC, IPR2019-00482, Paper 132 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 3, 2022). In this...more
Supreme Court of New York, New York County, June 15, 2022 - In this asbestos action, decedent Anastasios Katechis alleged exposure to asbestos from joint compound he used as a painter for Mamais Construction from 1967 to...more
Circuit Judge Bryson, sitting by designation in the US District Court for the District of Delaware, excluded a plaintiff’s damages expert opinion because the evidence relied upon by the expert was unreliable and therefore...more
The Hong Kong Court of Appeal has confirmed the position that correspondence marked "without prejudice" may not in fact be inadmissible before the court notwithstanding the label. Whether there was an existing dispute is a...more
In Hemphill v. New York, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the defendant “did not forfeit his confrontation right merely by making [a] plea allocution arguably relevant to his theory of defense.” The Court rejected the attempt...more
In its turn, on September 17th, Senior Party ToolGen Inc. filed its Motion to Exclude certain evidence presented by Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier...more
On September 17th, Junior Party the University of California/Berkeley, the University of Vienna, and Emmanuelle Charpentier (collectively, "CVC") filed its Motion to Exclude certain evidence presented by Senior Party ToolGen...more
Kovach v. Wheeling & Lake Erie Ry. Co., No. 3:18-CV-02826-JGC, 2021 WL 3774900 (N.D. Ohio Aug. 25, 2021) encourages defense attorneys to challenge experts with tactics other than Daubert, as the court avoided excluding...more
WI-LAN INC. v. SHARP ELECTRONICS CORPORATION - Before Dyk, Taranto, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. Summary: Source code evidence found to be inadmissible hearsay...more
Beyoncé, named by Forbes as the Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment, has built a business empire that stretches into entertainment, fashion, major product endorsements, as well as music production and streaming distribution....more
Vermont Supreme Court offers guidance on admissibility of social media content - By now it is not particularly controversial that a litigant’s social media content is discoverable. See, e.g., Lewis v. Bellows Falls...more
In a decision reinforcing the importance of expert testimony in design defect and failure to warn cases, the Eastern District of New York recently dismissed claims against the makers of PAM cooking spray. In Urena v....more
Foley Hoag LLP publishes this quarterly Update primarily concerning developments in product liability and related law from federal and state courts applicable to Massachusetts, but also featuring selected developments for New...more
The latest installment in the cat-and-mouse game of deciding priority in Interference No 106,155 between Senior Party The Broad Institute, Harvard University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (collectively,...more