Expert Witness News, Articles, Reports and Reference Documents

Jul 25 ’17 — Expert witnesses in medical malpractice cases may have some extra hoops to jump through if provisions in legislation passed by the U.S. House become law. While all eyes today are on the repeal of Obamacare, this bill may have better odds of passage.

Jul 17 ’17 — Two Nevada judges have banned a neurosurgery expert witness from testifying, finding that his expert opinions were too speculative and too biased to be admitted — and this in a state that does not fully embrace the Daubert standard.

Jun 20 ’17 — Medical expert witness reports must address proxmiate cause, making a good-faith effort to factually explain how and why a breach of the standard of care caused injury, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled, reversing the state court of appeals.

Jun 7 ’17 — Expert witnesses’ tests or experiments on the actual accused products are not always necessary to prove patent infringement, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled, reversing the award of $6.6 million by the U.S. District Court, E.D. Pa.

Jun 2 ’17 — Under new tort reforms in Iowa, health care expert witnesses in malpractice cases must, among other new hurdles, be licensed in the same or substantially similar specialty as the defendant and be in active practice or academia in the previous five years

Jun 1 ’17 — No legal precedent supports a bright-line rule against nurses acting as expert witnesses and testifying at trial regarding causation, the Indiana Court of Appeals has ruled, overturning a trial court.

May 24 ’17 — Imperfect data makes for imperfect expert witness reports, but that does not make them unreliable or unscientific, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled, overturning a summary judgment where the trial court acknowledged the report was likely correct.

Apr 28 ’17 — An expert witness “need not be an expert in a particular field to offer an expert opinion on damages that is based on broadly applicable calculations and measurements”, a U.S. District Court has ruled.

Apr 26 ’17 — Do indigent defendants have a right to mental health expert witnesses, independent of the prosecution, in capital cases? The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments April 24th on that question in the Alabama death-penalty appeal case, McWilliams v. Dunn.