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Expert Testimony Causation

K&L Gates LLP

Litigation Minute: Emerging Contaminants: Defending Litigation

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What You Need to Know in a Minute or Less - Effectively defending emerging contaminant litigation requires counsel capable of navigating extremely complex scientific issues related to causation, while also not losing sight of...more

Marshall Dennehey

District Court of Appeals Tell Plaintiffs They ‘Can’t Have Their Cake and Eat It Too’

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Key Points: In Mickler v. Triplett, 397 So.3d 188 (Fla. 5th DCA Nov. 15, 2024), the Court of Appeal thwarted a new strategy from the plaintiffs’ bar to remove the causation question from the hands of the jury....more

Goldberg Segalla

Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment Granted Based on Expert Preclusion

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Jurisdiction: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York - Plaintiff Scott Keller alleged that he was exposed to asbestos during his employment on ExxonMobil Oil Company vessels and that he developed...more

ArentFox Schiff

US District Court to Examine Link Between PFAS and Cancer

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Amidst mounting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) regulation and litigation, the Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) judge overseeing the federal litigation related to firefighting foam has scheduled a “Science Day.”...more

Adler Pollock & Sheehan P.C.

Rhode Island’s First Asbestos Verdict in Nearly 40 Years

For the first time in nearly 40 years, an asbestos case was tried to verdict in Rhode Island. This case, The Estate of Bonnie Bonito, resulted in a full defense verdict!...more

Blank Rome LLP

New Jersey Appellate Division Makes Clear Experts Must Demonstrate a Scientifically Recognized Methodology

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Recently, the New Jersey Appellate Division, in Dorrell v. Woodruff Energy, Inc., vacated a 2018 judgment against Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (“Chevron”) that had found Chevron liable for gasoline contamination. More specifically,...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Foundation, Not Façade — The Fifth Circuit Affirms the Proper Basis Requirement for Admissibility of Expert Opinions in Newsome v....

In a toxic tort case, plaintiffs must establish general causation. If a substance is incapable of causing the type of injury plaintiff claims, then it certainly didn’t cause theirs. Under Texas law, toxic tort plaintiffs must...more

Husch Blackwell LLP

Washington Court Finds No Take-Home Exposure in Asbestos Bench Trial

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In Perkins v. United States, Plaintiff Tristan Perkins sued the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) for her mother Geraldine Perkins’ (“Decedent”) alleged wrongful death due to asbestos exposure. Alleging...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

To Depose or Not to Depose: When Challenging Opposing Nonretained Experts Becomes Challenging

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2) requires parties to disclose the opinions of experts who may present evidence at trial. If the disclosures are inadequate, Rule 37(c) requires exclusion of the opinions “unless the...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Plaintiff’s Half-Baked Attempt to Prove Defect and Causation With Photographs of Moldy Bread Shows the Knead for Expert Testimony

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t make the camera an expert witness. Product liability actions usually require expert testimony to prove defect and causation. Pictures, like other documents, can be...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Same Song, Different Verse — Causation Experts for Second Group of Bellwether Plaintiffs Excluded for Same Reason as First Group’s...

Multidistrict litigation is meant to “promote the just and efficient conduct” of actions “involving one or more common questions of fact” by transferring those actions to a single district court “for coordinated or...more

Zelle  LLP

Federal Court Properly Applies Concurrent Causation and Rejects an “Expert” Opinion –Thompson v. State Farm Lloyds

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U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Edison of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently issued a decision granting summary judgment for an insurance carrier in a first-party case involving alleged...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Fifth Circuit Asks the Right Questions, Affirms Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Herbicide Claims as Untimely and Lacking...

As Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once observed, “[w]isdom is knowing when to ask the right questions.” A related proposition is that wise jurists know how to identify and focus on the right questions. Motion practice can...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Plaintiffs’ Second Bite at the General Causation Apple Fares No Better Than the First in Acetaminophen MDL

In December 2023, back when the ink was still drying on the amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the Southern District of New York excluded all five general causation experts proffered by plaintiffs in the In re...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

California Supreme Court Walks Middle Ground on Warnings Causation but Reaffirms Learned Intermediary Doctrine in Himes

As we reported in April, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit certified a question on California’s Learned Intermediary Doctrine in Himes v. Somatics, LLC, 2022 WL 989469 (9th Cir. Apr. 1, 2022). The...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Peer Review Can’t Save “Junk Science” from FRE 702 Judicial Gatekeeping – In re: Roundup Court Excludes Expert Whose Opinions Had...

When tasked with assessing the admissibility of expert testimony under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, courts often cite the so-called Daubert factors as criteria that guide the inquiry. Among those factors is “whether the...more

Marshall Dennehey

Limiting the Opinions of Plaintiff’s Non-Retained Expert Witnesses Regarding Injury Causation and Permanency

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Key Points: Plaintiff’s non-retained experts are treating physicians, and their testimony at trial should be limited to their scope of treatment, diagnosis, and prognosis with respect to the injuries alleged....more

CDF Labor Law LLP

A New and Challenging Obstacle for California Employers’ Use of Experts in State Courts

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Employers litigating cases in California courts face many obstacles. Summary judgment has become increasingly difficult for employers. Criminal cases take precedent and often cause trial postponements, resulting in civil...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

New California Evidentiary Standard Makes Admitting Defense Expert Testimony More Challenging

California’s evidentiary rules have changed. As of January 1, 2024, defense expert testimony in medical causation cases is subject to a higher threshold....more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Amended FRE 702 Arrives in MDL Practice: S.D.N.Y. Excludes Plaintiffs’ Experts in Acetaminophen MDL

The Committee Notes to the newly implemented amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 make clear that the “[j]udicial gatekeeping” of expert evidence is “essential.” Federal courts in New York have played an important role...more

Goldberg Segalla

NJ Appellate Court Reverses $223.8 J&J Talc Verdict on Causation Grounds

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Court: The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division - Johnson & Johnson has successfully appealed a $223.8 judgment against it following a trial involving allegations of asbestos-contaminated talcum powder in...more

Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

New Law Raises Standard for Defense Experts as to Medical Causation

On July 17, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) No. 652, adding Section 801.1 to the California Evidence Code. This section provides additional requirements for expert opinions relating to medical...more

Jenner & Block

Client Alert: Fifth Circuit Guidance for Newly-Offered Expert Opinions and the Concurrent Causation Doctrine in Insurance Coverage...

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s recent opinion in Majestic Oil, Inc. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd's, London Subscribing to Policy Number W1B527170201, No. 21-20542 (5th Cir. Mar. 17, 2023),...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

What Dose Makes the Poison? Where Expert Cannot Say, Eleventh Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment

A central tenet of toxicology is that “the dose makes the poison.” Every chemical is toxic if enough of it is consumed, and every chemical has some dose – even if miniscule – at which it poses no significant risk. A chemical...more

Goldberg Segalla

Exclusion of Dr. Staggs’ Specific Causation Opinion Entitles Automotive Defendant to Summary Judgment

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Court: United States District Court for the District of Utah - This case arises out of decedent John C. Riegler’s diagnosis of mesothelioma, which plaintiff alleges stems from decedent’s work at a service station,...more

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