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Mealey's Daubert

  • June 05, 2025

    Arizona Federal Judge Agrees To Limit Testimony In ADA Suit Over Interpreters

    PHOENIX — An expert retained to rebut another expert’s testimony in a lawsuit brought by the estate of a deaf woman alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) cannot opine on the decedent’s proficiency in speech and in reading and writing English and cannot opine on a shortage of sign language interpreters, an Arizona federal judge ruled, otherwise denying a motion to exclude.

  • June 04, 2025

    Judge Refuses To Exclude Experts Retained To Argue For Class Certification

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — A California federal judge denied without prejudice two motions to exclude experts in a putative class action over whether an arts and crafts store falsely advertised discounted sales prices, finding “that at this point in the proceedings,” the testimony is not inadmissible.

  • June 03, 2025

    Judge Limits Certain Expert Testimony In Data Collection Case Against Google

    SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on June 2 ruled on competing motions to exclude expert testimony in a case against Google LLC over data collection, finding that certain testimony is inadmissible under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • June 03, 2025

    Utah Federal Judge Limits Testimony From 2 Experts In Suit Stemming From Arrest

    SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah issued two opinions on the admissibility of experts retained in a case brought by a woman who alleges that her constitutional rights were violated during a strip search following her arrest for disorderly conduct.

  • May 29, 2025

    Expert Can Opine On Addiction, But Magistrate Judge Limits Testimony In ADA Suit

    PLANO, Texas — An expert retained by a county in Texas may be qualified to opine on addiction medicine, but he lacks qualifications to testify on the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), Denton County, Texas, policies and U.S. Department of Justice policies, a Texas federal magistrate judge ruled.

  • May 28, 2025

    Winemaker Seeks To Exclude Insurer’s Expert Witness In Dispute Over Defective Wine

    SEATTLE — A commercial winemaker moved to exclude the rebuttal testimony and report of an excess commercial general liability insurer’s expert witness in a coverage dispute arising from an underlying faulty vinification lawsuit over allegedly defective wine, arguing in a Washington federal court that the insurer’s expert’s testimony and report are properly excluded under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c)(1).

  • May 27, 2025

    Wisconsin Judge Says Lower Court Erred In Dismissing Case For No Expert Testimony

    MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin appellate judge ruled that a lower court erred in dismissing a case alleging that American Honda Motor Co. Inc. breached its warranty, finding in part that the court erred in requiring a man to present expert testimony to argue that a defect in the vehicle, and not a defect in the tires, caused the treads on the tires to wear rapidly.

  • May 27, 2025

    Experts Featured In Mealey's Daubert Report

    Entries are in alphabetical order of the expert in each area of expert testimony.  Experts appeared in the January, February, March, April and May 2025 issues of Mealey’s Daubert Report.

  • May 27, 2025

    Magistrate: Expert’s Opinions Should Be Limited In Credit Reporting Spat

    PITTSBURGH — Testimony from an expert who was retained to opine on the accuracy of a bank’s report on a customer’s credit should be limited, a federal magistrate judge in Pennsylvania recommended, because portions of his proposed testimony usurp the role of the jury.

  • May 23, 2025

    Full Federal Circuit Orders New Trial On Damages For Google In Patent Fight

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The full Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a Texas federal judge should have granted Google LLC a new trial on damages after a jury found that the company infringed on a patent related to smart thermostat technology, finding that the judge allowed jurors to hear unreliable testimony regarding a royalty rate.

  • May 23, 2025

    Expert Can Opine On Impact Of Puberty For Transgender Student Athletes, Judge Says

    PHOENIX — A pediatric endocrinologist can testify as an expert for transgender girls who are suing over a ban in Arizona that bars them from participating in school sports after a federal judge rejected arguments from state legislators who intervened in the case that the expert is unqualified and plagiarized portions of his expert report.

  • May 22, 2025

    Louisiana Federal Judge Limits Medical Causation Testimony In Accident Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A medical expert retained in a car accident case may be qualified to opine on certain injuries, but portions of his testimony are inadmissible as unreliable under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Louisiana federal judge found.

  • May 21, 2025

    Sheeran To High Court: Don’t Grant Certiorari In Gaye Copyright Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — English pop singer Ed Sheeran tells the U.S. Supreme Court that it should leave in place a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmation of a federal judge’s finding that the singer did not infringe on a Marvin Gaye tune, arguing to the high court that the rights holder wrongly argues that the Second Circuit deferred to a finding from the U.S. Copyright Office.

  • May 21, 2025

    Expert Can Testify On Reasonableness Of Medical Costs, Miss. Federal Judge Says

    JACKSON, Miss. — A man who alleges that he was injured in a traffic accident lost his bid to exclude an expert retained by a company who disputed the reasonable costs of the man’s necessary medical treatment as a result of the collision when a Mississippi federal judge denied his motion to exclude.

  • May 16, 2025

    Man Hurt In Accident Loses Bid To Exclude Defense’s Expert In Texas Crash Suit

    SAN ANTONIO — A Texas magistrate judge denied two motions to exclude experts retained in an automobile accident without prejudice, finding that the trial court should be “able to consider specific objections to aspects of their testimony as they arise at trial and/or through any motions in limine.”

  • May 16, 2025

    Magistrate Judge Finds No Error In Experts’ Disclosures, Testimony Admissible

    FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Florida magistrate judge refused efforts by an insurer to exclude experts retained by homeowners in a storm coverage dispute, finding that exclusion is not appropriate on reliability arguments or under disclosure requirements.

  • May 15, 2025

    5th Circuit: Deepwater Horizon Case Properly Dismissed For Lack Of Causation

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a district court correctly excluded a plaintiff’s expert and dismissed for lack of causation his case against BP Exploration & Production and its affiliate related to alleged injuries from exposure to chemicals during remediation activities following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

  • May 13, 2025

    SEC Reaches Settlement With Crypto Firm, Seeks Lifting Of Injunction, Penalty

    NEW YORK — The Securities and Exchange Commission reached a settlement with crypto asset firm Ripple Labs Inc. and two of its executives, agreeing to ask a federal court in New York to dissolve an injunction against Ripple and to order all but $50 million of the civil penalty Ripple was ordered to pay to the SEC be paid back to Ripple, which the court ordered after finding the cryptocurrencies sold by Ripple were effectively unregistered securities.

  • May 12, 2025

    Judge: Experts Are Admissible In Baby Sleeper Case Against Fisher-Price, Mattel

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware state judge who was asked to reconsider his denial of several motions to exclude testimony from experts retained by a couple suing over the death of their daughter, who died after being placed in the now recalled Rock ’n Play Sleeper, found that the experts were properly excluded even though the judge deferred and adopted decisions reached in another case involving the same product.

  • May 09, 2025

    Firearms Expert Lacks Experience To Opine In Criminal Case, Federal Judge Says

    DETROIT — A Michigan federal judge issued a written order excluding a firearms expert retained by a man who was later convicted of charges connected to his possession of a machine gun after the judge orally granted the government’s motion during the trial.

  • May 08, 2025

    La. Appeals Court Reverses Summary Judgment Award Based On Experts’ Exclusion

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana appellate court found that a lower court erred in excluding expert testimony and awarding summary judgment in a legal malpractice suit, finding that Louisiana law requires that a court hear and dispose of challenges to the admissibility of experts under Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc. before a summary judgment hearing.

  • May 07, 2025

    Plaintiffs’ Experts Allowed In Baby Formula MDL But 1st Bellwether Case Dismissed

    CHICAGO — Experts retained by parents suing the manufacturers of infant formula that they allege caused preterm infants to develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) can testify in the multidistrict litigation in an Illinois federal court, the judge overseeing the MDL ruled, but in a separate order the same day, she granted a manufacturer summary judgment in the first bellwether case set for trial.

  • May 06, 2025

    Judge: 1 Expert Out, Another Expert’s Testimony Limited In Marine Injury Case

    NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge barred a marine expert retained by a man who alleges that he was injured while working aboard a vessel from testifying and limited testimony from an expert retained by the vessel’s owner and operator, finding that the excluded testimony at issue is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc.

  • May 05, 2025

    Class Largely Prevails On Summary Judgment In ERISA Early Retirement Row

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act class action is headed toward a bench trial on just a few remaining claims after a Kansas federal judge resolved exclusion and partial summary judgment motions, ruling in part that the plan at issue “does not permit Defendants to deny early retirement benefits regardless of the type of work the participants perform for Covered Employers.”

  • May 02, 2025

    Ala. Federal Judge: Expert Who Opines Defective Ladder Caused Injuries Excluded

    MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An Alabama federal judge on May 1 granted summary judgment to a ladder manufacturer after finding that testimony by an expert retained by a man who alleges that defects to the ladder caused him to be injured is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.