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1. #Daubert motion in limine how to#
2. #Daubert motion in limine driver#
3. #Daubert motion in limine trial#

This, in turn, left the plaintiff unable to prove either general or specific causation regarding any of her personal injury claims. In the case at hand, the district court exercised its gatekeeper role and did not “let the jury decide.” It instead found that, notwithstanding his “impressive credentials,” the plaintiff’s expert had “failed to adhere to the methodology expected of toxicologists in toxic tort cases.” That failure rendered his opinions unreliable and therefore inadmissible.

#Daubert motion in limine trial#

Any good trial lawyer knows that if you’ve got one credible expert or scientific study, then you can let the jury decide.” He once quipped: “I don’t need all the science to be on my side. Take the late Texas trial lawyer and purported “King of Torts,” Joe Jamail. The “talismanic significance” placed on expert testimony by lay jurors is not lost on plaintiffs’ lawyers. And as the Eleventh Circuit later observed, “no other kind of witness is free to opine about a complicated matter without any firsthand knowledge of the facts in the case,” and lay jurors tend to assign expert testimony “talismanic significance.” United States v. Supreme Court warned in Daubert, even specious expert testimony “can be both powerful and quite misleading because of the difficulty in evaluating it.” Daubert v. Yet scientifically specious claims like the plaintiff’s still pose a substantial risk to defendants-particularly where they will be bolstered by expert testimony. Those and other details signaled that that the science underlying the plaintiff’s claims might have been specious. On the other hand, the emissions about which the plaintiff complained are relatively ubiquitous and, in her case, had been emitted from sources located more than a mile from her home. The EPA had also recently determined that the air quality near her lifelong neighborhood had not met the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for sulfur dioxide (SO 2), which can be hazardous in high concentrations. The plaintiff, for instance, had serious and well-documented health problems.

#Daubert motion in limine driver#

The former EPA scientist was impressively credentialed-a point the district court itself would acknowledge-and his anticipated testimony was a major driver behind the plaintiff’s demand for more than $50 million.Īt first glance, some aspects of her claims were concerning. When a suburban Florida woman sued the owner of a neighboring chemical plant and alleged that its emissions permanently damaged her lungs and caused her a variety of other illnesses, she retained, among others, an expert toxicologist to help her prove her case.

#Daubert motion in limine how to#

Because Daubert decisions are becoming increasingly case-dispositive in complex cases, understanding how to discern and dismantle the foundations of expert testimony is a crucial skill for defense attorneys.