Tag: Reliability
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Court admits the opinions presented by the Defense Medical Expert Witnesses after analyzing the Plaintiff’s Medical Records
This case involved a personal injury lawsuit filed by Plaintiff, Morgan Fitch against her employer, Defendant, BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). On February 28, 2020, the Plaintiff was fulfilling her duties as a conductor for the Defendant, engaged in the transportation of a train from Minot, North Dakota to…
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Court Finds Pain Management Expert Witness’ Medical Causation Testimony Admissible Despite Arguments Questioning the Reliability of Differential Diagnosis Employed By Him
This case involved a lawsuit filed by Sharon B. Ikerd against Bobby Dillon, L Dillon Tree Harvesting, LLC, and Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Insurance Company after being involved in an automobile collision with Dillon. At the time, Ikerd was driving a school bus and had stopped to let children exit. Dillon, who was driving a tractor…
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Court addresses Daubert challenges filed against both the Plaintiffs’ and Defendants’ expert witnesses amidst claims of premises liability and product liability
Valerie Koger, a Costco member, visited the Costco store in Fremont, California, on November 1, 2018, seeking dining chairs. While browsing, she encountered a Stakmore wooden folding chair displayed on an aisle. Upon sitting on it, the chair immediately collapsed, causing her to fall to the ground. The impact from the chair’s failure resulted in…
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Court admits the Long-Term, Low-Temperature Ignition of Wood theory of Fire Investigation Expert Witnesses in Product Liability Case
The case arose from a fire at an apartment building in Potsdam, New York, allegedly caused by a defective attic exhaust/ventilation fan manufactured by Defendant, Broan Nutone LLC. Country Mutual, representing the Plaintiff, claimed the fan was defective in both manufacturing and design, citing New York law on strict product liability and identifying manufacturing and…
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Questions relating to the bases and sources of an expert’s opinion affect the weight to be assigned that opinion, not admissibility; Court admits the testimony of Structural Engineering Expert Witness in insurance coverage dispute
This insurance coverage dispute arose when the Plaintiff, Fiberco’s building was damaged by a hailstorm in April 2020 while insured under a policy issued by Defendant, Acadia Insurance Company effective from April 10, 2020 to April 10, 2021. FiberCo subsequently filed a claim with Acadia for the hail damage to the building. After an assessment,…
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Court rejects the testimony of Human Factors Engineering Expert Witness after concluding jury cannot receive appreciable help from her “inconsistent” testimony
The case in question involves a lawsuit filed by the Plaintiff, Clyde Arterburn, against Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. (referred to as Home Depot) for injuries sustained when he tripped and fell in a Home Depot store on September 21, 2020. According to the documents, Arterburn claims that he tripped over a metal basket holder that…
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Evidentiary Standard of Reliability is lower than the merits standard of correctness;Court admits the testimony of Human Factors Expert Witness regarding the adequacy of the product’s warning labels in this failure-to-warn suit
In a products liability action, Plaintiffs Timothy and Jean Moore filed a failure-to-warn lawsuit against Defendant Combe Inc., the manufacturer of the Just For Men brand of hair dye products. The Moores alleged that Combe knew or should have known that their products could cause vitiligo and/or skin depigmentation but failed to adequately warn users…
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Modifications to an expert report are allowed as long as there are no additions or substantive changes whatsoever; Court limits the testimony of both parties’ experts regarding the customs brokerage industry
This case involves a dispute between JAS Supply, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) and Radiant Customs Services, Inc. and Radiant Global Logistics, Inc. (“Defendants”) regarding the importation of alcohol wipes from foreign manufacturers. In 2020, Plaintiff contracted with Defendants to assist with importing alcohol wipes into the United States for the first time. Defendant Radiant Global Logistics provided…
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California Court admits the testimony of film and television industry experts in copyright infringement action
Plaintiffs allege certain episodes of Defendants’ shows Prank Encounters and Double Cross infringe episodes of Plaintiffs’ show Scare Tactics. The court denies Defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding genuine disputes remain regarding substantial similarity and damages. The court also largely denies motions to exclude expert testimony on similarity and damages, ruling that flawed assumptions and…
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Colorado Court weighs reliable basis of Pathology Expert’s testimony over semantics in medical negligence suit
The Court rejected the Plaintiff’s argument to exclude the Defense expert’s opinion that high mitotic rates correlate with poor prognosis. While the Plaintiff insisted this equated to an unreliable, unsupported “prediction” of causation, the court found the dispute merely semantic. The expert never explicitly opined mitotic rates “predict” malignancy. Rather, he suggested an “association” or…
