PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) publishes an annual study that analyzes Daubert challenges and how they are used: “Daubert Challenges to Financial Experts: An 11-year study of trends and outcomes.” The data is staggering. Since Kumho Tire, the number of challenges to all types of expert witnesses has increased dramatically, with a total of 253 challenges in 2000 and 879 in 2010; a 248% increase! Continue reading »
To what extent must a court vet an expert witness under the Daubert standard prior to certification of a class action? The question arises regularly in federal class action litigation. But until last year, no federal appeals court had answered it. Continue reading »
Jul 212011
On July 18th, the New York Law Journal published an article on the 40-year history of the Carter-Wallace test. The article addresses the background, ruling and results of Carter-Wallace Inc. v. Otte and how this case is affecting expert testimony. Continue reading »
Jul 192011
Although expert opinions must be based in fact, they are still individualized opinions and are occasionally, as the New Jersey Appellate Court stated on July 5, based on an expert’s “gut feeling”. Continue reading »
The wildly popular book Freakonomics was the result of a partnership between economist Steven D. Levitt and writer Stephen J. Dubner. This best-selling book took complex economic theories and applied them to cheating teachers, odd baby names and drug dealers in a way that the mainstream public both understood and enjoyed. Continue reading »
Jul 072011
Experts, unfortunately, are not always honest about their credentials, as numerous examples have recently proven.
A dramatic example in 2007 occurred when a New Orleans federal judge threw out a jury verdict in favor of pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. after a cardiologist who testified for the defense in a Vioxx trial was found to have misrepresented his credentials. Continue reading »
By Melinda Starbird
A case lost, repealed or rejected because of experts is far more common than it should be, and is often caused by attorneys hiring inappropriate, under qualified or no experts. Whether you face a class action suit over privacy issues or copyright infringement regarding source code, it is important to have the best expert witnesses working on your behalf. Continue reading »
