On opening an opinion, lawyers habitually roll their eyes when they see a table of contents. Even more so when they learn the opinion is over 300 pages. The MDL order granting defense motions to exclude experts and for...more
12/14/2022
/ Cancer ,
Causation ,
Daubert Standards ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Over The Counter Drugs (OTC) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Rule of Evidence 702 ,
Summary Judgment ,
Toxic Chemicals
Just a decade ago, it was still an open question whether parties could challenge the admissibility of expert testimony in class certification proceedings. The United States Supreme Court recognized the issue in Wal-Mart...more
There has been much discussion recently about how Rule 702 is in need of a tune-up to better guide district courts’ gatekeeping. More about that soon.
But a case now pending before the Supreme Court, Monsanto Company v....more
In the “Daubert trilogy,” Rule 702 spawned three children, all special in their own way. The firstborn, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), naturally receives most of the attention, being the pioneer....more
Amateur philosophers, bar flies, and eulogists, among others, are known to wistfully observe that nothing dies so long as it is remembered and discussed. That’s a comforting sentiment when it comes to loved ones and legacies,...more
7/30/2019
/ Admissibility ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Daubert Standards ,
Evidence ,
Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Kelly-Frye Test ,
Lockheed Martin ,
Recusal ,
Reliability Standards ,
Rule of Evidence 702
In 2013, spurred by the decisions in Marsh and Hood, the Florida Legislature amended F.S. 90.702 to mirror Federal Rule of Evidence 702. In a preamble to the final bill, the Legislature expressed its intent to (1) adopt the...more
The Aftermath of Marsh -
When the Marsh case was decided in 2007 its broad interpretation of the “pure opinion exception” and narrow vision of the role of Frye took Florida expert evidence admissibility law well out of the...more
7/8/2019
/ Admissibility ,
Appeals ,
Causation ,
Daubert Standards ,
Evidence ,
Expert Testimony ,
Florida ,
Kelly-Frye Test ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Motion to Exclude ,
Reversal ,
Rule of Evidence 702 ,
Scientific Research ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
Summary Judgment ,
Trial Court Orders
The steady but sometimes slow adoption by the states of the Daubert standard for expert admissibility, and the accompanying recession of the Frye standard, is something of a coming of age for the national jurisprudence. Frye...more