Expert Testimony on Branding Disallowed in Copyright Infringement Case

Expert Witness

A company called Afropunk produces music festivals. It paid photographer Mamba Bayoh $1,200 for photographs. According to Bayoh, the photographs were to be used on Afropunk’s website and Instagram account to promote a festival in Brooklyn. Bayoh complained that Afropunk improperly used the photographs in other marketing materials. After selling the photographs, Bayoh registered the […]

Court Rules Expert Testimony Not Needed in a Don and Doff Overtime Claim

Timesheet

Rodney Tygar brought an unpaid overtime claim against Precision Drilling Corp. and related companies. Tygar contended that his employer failed to pay workers employed as rig hands for the time they spent putting on personal protective equipment (PPE) prior to their shift and removing it after the shift ended. Tygar presented expert testimony in support […]

Rising Trend of Experts Questioning Legitimacy of Shaken Baby Convictions

a doctor and a child

A growing number of experts are challenging the existence and symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome/Abusive Head Trauma — a medical diagnosis that has sent many people to prison over the years.  This is leading to a rise in appeals and overturned convictions. The Science In the early 1970s, pediatric neurosurgeon A. Norman Guthkelch first hypothesized […]

District Court Admits Expert Testimony Regarding Specific Causation in Hernia Mesh Litigation

Expert Witness

Thousands of lawsuits against C.R. Bard allege that the company’s surgical mesh products have harmed patients. Cases involving mesh used to repair hernias have been consolidated in the Southern District of Ohio. In a recent decision, that court considered whether a surgeon’s expert testimony about specific causation should be admitted or excluded. MDL Litigation When […]

North Carolina Permits Expert Testimony Regarding Shell Casing Ejection Pattern

North Carolina

The North Carolina Court of Appeals faulted an attorney for challenging a decision to admit expert testimony without relying on the North Carolina Rules of Evidence. A doubtful experiment in shell casing ejection by a prosecution expert was deemed admissible because the defense attorney failed to challenge the admissibility of the experiment under Daubert. Facts […]

Expert Testimony Causes Monsanto to Ask Ninth Circuit to Dismiss $20M Verdict

dollar bills

Agrochemical and agricultural giant Monsanto has asked the Ninth Circuit to overturn a $20 million jury verdict, arguing that the district court judge allowed the jury to hear from an unreliable expert witness. The Injury Ed Hardeman and his wife spent many years living in Sonoma County on 56 acres of land. In the 1980s, […]

Police Officer Was Not Qualified to Testify as an HGN Expert

Kayin Love was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). She appealed her conviction, contending that the arresting officer should not have been permitted to testify as an expert witness. In an unpublished opinion, the Maryland Court of Special Appeals concluded that a police officer must be qualified as an expert to give […]

Medical Malpractice Decision Reversed for Improperly Excluded Expert Testimony

Idaho Justice Legal System Concept

The Idaho Supreme Court has ruled that an Idaho family will have another chance to prove that a hospital is vicariously liable for the actions of doctors because a lower court improperly excluded its expert witness testimony. The Injury In May 2015, Duane Dlouhy went to the emergency room at Kootenai Health because of rectal […]

Judge Refuses to Hear Expert Testimony in FTC’s Deceptive Practices Lawsuit

Judge in courtroom

To satisfy the Daubert test, some judges require expert witnesses to explain their reasoning in exhaustive detail. When experts fail to support their conclusions with a high level of detail, parties risk the exclusion of expert testimony. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued Innovative Designs, Inc. for violating a federal law that prohibits using “unfair […]