When the Supreme Court set the standard for expert testimony admissibility in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), it upended decades of prior case law interpretation of what it means to be an expert. In light…

In the California Senate, a lawmaker recently introduced CA Senate Bill 243 in an effort to both heighten the evidentiary standard of scientific testimony as well as decrease the admission of false evidence against criminal defendants. Proposed by Senator Scott…

A federal appellate court in Iowa recently upheld a plaintiff expert witness’s exclusion in a workplace product liability case for their failure to satisfy the requirements of Federal Rules of Evidence 702. The decision in Hirchak v. W.W. Grainger, Inc.,…

In Pennsylvania, three recent court decisions are revising the state’s rules governing expert testimony. The decisions discuss how the court may weigh in on expert methodology, if at all, and the line between lay and expert testimony. Attorneys practicing in…

Professional, scientific, and technical fields differ not only in the problems they seek to solve, but also in the methodologies they use to analyze problems and describe results. Though both the Daubert and Frye standards leave room for differing methodologies…

Maryland has become the most recent state to adopt the Daubert standard for determining when a jury can hear expert witness testimony. In its August 28, 2020 decision in Rochkind v. Stevenson, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that the…

Federal Rule 702 was created to codify evidentiary admissibility standards for expert witness testimony. The rule establishes that a witness who is qualified as an expert on the basis of knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the…

Federal Rule of Evidence 703 establishes the basis on which experts may form their opinions. Such opinions are needed for a jury to understand the facts in a case and the evidence before them. Generally, such expert testimony is necessary…

The Daubert standard is the set of criteria used to determine the admissibility of expert witness testimony in federal court. Under the Daubert standard, the trial judge serves as the gatekeeper who determines whether an expert’s evidence is deemed reputable…

Since the United States Supreme Court decided a standard for the admissibility of expert testimony in the seminal case, Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), an increasing number of expert witnesses have been challenged by way…