Now Rule 702 is one step closer to a big change—its first in over 20 years. Last week, the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure voted unanimously to pass the proposed Rule 702 amendment. The proposed amendment clarifies the…
In Pennsylvania, the rules controlling expert witnesses are similar to the federal rules—with some notable exceptions. One such exception is that attorneys can effectively defend their expert’s reliance on hearsay and other inadmissible evidence. However, under the Frye standard, PA…
An expert witness’s role is to break down complicated subjects so that triers of fact can make informed decisions. However, sometimes even the most reputable experts in a particular field are not necessarily the best ones for trial. For instance,…
A Florida federal judge has excluded opinions from a 3M expert witness in the ongoing CAEv2s combat earplugs bellwether trial. In this case, the plaintiffs claim they suffered injuries to their hearing due to defective earplugs used during military activities.…
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…
Though both the Daubert and Frye standards leave room for differing methodologies from different fields, neither standard adopts an “anything goes” approach. Rather, both delineate criteria for evaluating a particular expert witness’s methodology in court. Expert witnesses who understand how…
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…