Video Recording Experts Will Testify in Heather Elvis Kidnapping Case

A South Carolina judge has ruled that the prosecution will be allowed to call an expert witness to testify in the trial of a husband and wife who are charged with kidnapping. The disappearance of Heather Elvis made national headlines. Coverage included a feature on the Missing in America series on Dateline NBC. News commentary […]

Expert Allowed to Use Statistical Evidence of Plaintiffs’ Damages in FLSA Class Action

The United States Supreme Court held in Tyson Foods vs. Bouaphakeo, et al (577 U.S. ___(2016) that an expert could properly use a statistical sampling of damages claimed to have been sustained by workers in litigation brought under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Specifically, the evidence was permissible to establish the required commonality among […]

Google and Oracle Each Try to Limit the Other’s Experts

Oracle, the nation’s second largest software developer, sued Google in 2010, claiming that Google violated the patents and copyrights that protect its Java programming language. Oracle alleged that Google used Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to develop its popular Android operating system. An API allows one program to communicate with another. Oracle claimed that Google […]

PG&E Seeks Exclusion of Government’s Experts in Pipeline Safety Prosecution

Following a natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco suburb of San Bruno, the government charged Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) with eleven counts of violating the U.S. Pipeline Safety Act. The blast killed 8 people, injured 58, and caused the destruction of 38 homes. Alleging that PG&E impeded an investigation by the National […]

Medical Expert Not Required to Practice in Same Specialty as Defendant Physician

The Florida 4th District Court of Appeal held in Weiss, et al vs. Pratt, (4D08-2179 and 4D10-593) that a testifying medical expert witness did not have to practice in precisely the same field as the treating physician in a medical malpractice action to allow testimony as an expert. The Court’s opinion interpreted a portion of […]

Court Denies Justin Bieber’s Request to Delay Filing of Expert Report

Man studying music notes on a blackboard

Justin Bieber and Usher may be forced to go to trial in a copyright infringement lawsuit without an expert witness. The presiding judge denied their motion to extend the deadline for providing an expert witness report. Without the benefit of an expert musicologist, Bieber and Usher will have a more difficult challenge as they attempt […]

Vanderbilt Football Player Convicted of Rape Despite Defense Expert Testimony

Former Federal Judge Limited in Testimony as Expert Witness

Last week jurors in the high profile rape trial of a former Vanderbilt football player returned a guilty verdict against a defendant who claimed he was too intoxicated to engage in the type of malicious criminal behavior required for aggravated rape charges. Despite testimony from a defense expert witness which bolstered his claim, Cory Batey […]

Cellphone Experts Give Opposing Testimony in Fraud Trial

Experts continue to argue about whether the data provided by mobile phone companies can reliably establish the location of a cellphone (and, by implication, its owner) at a particular time of day. When cellphones are on, they periodically “ping” a tower. Experts who use the tower’s location to track the approximate location of the phone […]

When Expert Opinion Amounts to Speculation

Attorneys do not often serve as expert witnesses, in part because only the judge who presides in a trial is the expert in the law that controls the case. In some cases, however, attorneys do serve as expert witnesses. They do so most often in legal malpractice cases, when they testify about the quality of […]

Testimony of Auto Design Expert Barred by VA Supreme Court

In a Daubert-like challenge, the Supreme Court of Virginia barred the testimony of an expert hired by the guardians and conservators of a person severely injured in a single-car automobile collision. (Hyundai Motor Company, LTD, et al vs. Duncan Record No. 140216) Factual and Procedural Background The case involved a single car collision involving a […]

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