Law Regarding Admissibility of Expert Opinions: The relevant Rules of Evidence and cases that every expert witness should know and understand.
The presentation outlines the key rules and cases that govern the admissibility of expert opinion in federal court. Attorney Kirker will provide the relevant rules and court interpretations that are crucial to admissibility of expert opinion testimony, including FRE 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 US 579 (1993), as well as the key related decisions that establish the framework upon which all expert testimony is evaluated by federal Courts. In the presentation, Mr. Kirker will focus on federal law, but will also touch on state evidence laws and the similarities and differences with federal court decisions on admissibility of expert testimony. Mr. Kirker will provide examples of expert testimony that pass muster, and expert testimony that was excluded. Mr. Contreras will provide the perspective from the expert’s point of view with respect to adherence to the rules, customs and practices of testifying experts.
Experts performing failure analysis related to litigation should take into account the requirements of the Court for the admissibility of the opinions of the expert. If an expert fails to follow the relevant law related to the expert admissibility, then that expert’s opinions will likely be excluded from evidence. The exclusion of an expert’s opinions has severe and detrimental ramifications for the specific litigation involved, as well as future opinions the expert tries to present. The takeaways from the presentation will assist experts performing failure analysis for litigation to avoid the pitfalls from motions in limine to exclude their opinions.