Articles Posted in Expert Witness Testimony

Summary: Preventive Medicine Expert Witness allowed to provide testimony even though the defendant states that he was not qualified to offer an expert opinions on technical matters of cardiology.

Facts:  This case (Levitt v. Merck & Co., Inc. – U.S. District Court Western District of Missouri – May 28th, 2019) involves a claim against the defendant alleging that she suffered two heart attacks in 2001 as a result of taking the drug Vioxx.  In order to prove her claim, the plaintiff hired Preventive Medicine Expert Witness David Egilman, M.D.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Combustion Engineering Expert Witness testimony allowed even though the defendants argued that his opinions were unreliable based on his reliance of conclusions of one problem vehicle.

Facts:  This case (Counts, et al. v. General Motors, LLC – United States District Court – Eastern District of Michigan – June 9th, 2022) involves a claim by consumers who purchased a 2014 or 2015 Chevrolet Cruze diesel from the defendant.  The plaintiffs allege that they overpaid for their vehicles because they were tricked into purchasing a Cruze with “defeat devices” that made its emissions comply with numerous state and federal regulations.  The plaintiffs claim that their Cruze vehicles emit dangerous amounts of oxides of nitrogen, which exceed state and federal emission standards.   The plaintiffs hired Combustion Engineering Expert Witness Juston Smithers to provide expert witness testimony in this case.  General Motors has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Mortgages Expert Witness testimony allowed in spite of defendant’s arguments that the expert does not offer Payment Waiver Protection programs in his own business.

Facts:  This case (Schneider et al v. CitiMortgage, Inc. et al – United States District Court – District of Kansas – August 13th, 2019) involves a mortgage dispute.  The plaintiffs refinanced a residential mortgage loan with the defendants.  The plaintiffs have brought this lawsuit for breach of contract, fraud, conversion, and failure to refinance.  The plaintiffs have hired A.W. Pickel (Mortgages Expert Witness) to provide expert witness testimony.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Licensing Expert Witness testimony was allowed despite the expert relying on the testimony of third parties.

Facts:  This case (Federal Trade Commission v. Qualcomm Incorporated – United States District Court – Northern District of California – December 10th, 2018) involves a complicated interaction between cellular communications standards, standard essential patents (“SEPs”), and the market for baseband processors, or “modem chips”.  The plaintiff has hired Richard L. Donaldson (Licensing Expert Witness) to provide expert testimony on their behalf.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Employment Expert Witness testimony allowed in part even though the plaintiff argued that it is up to the judge and the jury to to decide liability based on the evidence in the case.

Facts:  This case (Dickson v. The Bosworth – United States District Court – Western District of Texas – May 13th, 2022) involves a claim of racial discrimination.  The defendant, Bosworth has hired Employment Expert Witness W. Clark Lea to provide testimony on its behalf.   The defendant hired Mr. Lea to provide expert testimony on whether or not Bosworth performed reasonable care to prevent or correct harassing and discriminatory behavior and whether Dickson did not take advantage of any corrective or preventative behavior which was provided by Bosworth.  The plaintiff has filed a motion to exclude this expert from providing expert witness testimony.

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Summary: Electronics Expert Witness not allowed to testify in contract case even though he owns a small business performing audio-visual installations.

Facts:  This case (Peters v. Best Buy Stores, LP – United States District Court – District of Maryland – March 3rd, 2022) involves a breach of contract claim filed against Best Buy. The plaintiff, Nnena Ella Peters, says that she went to Best Buy to order numerous televisions and appliances.  She claims that staff at Best Buy convinced her that the company and its subsidiaries had the experience, reputation and size to handle the project.  By 2020, Peters alleges that the systems in her house were not working to her satisfaction even though best Buy continued to work on the project.  She then filed suit against the company.  In order to prove her case, Peters hired Electronics Expert Witness Mr. Orjan Dhimitri Gjoni to provide expert testimony.  Best Buy has filed a motion to exclude the expert witness testimony of Mr. Gjoni.

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Summary: Software Expert Witness testimony allowed even though the defense argued that his opinions were not reliable because they were based on apposite facts.

Facts: This case (SiteLock LLC v. GoDaddy.com LLC – United States District Court – District of Arizona – March 2nd, 2022) involves a breach of contract claim.  SiteLock entered into a contract with GoDaddy whereas GoDaddy agreed to sell SiteLock’s security services.  When a GoDaddy customer purchased a SiteLock subscription, and took the steps to activate the service, a sale of the proceeds would go to SiteLock.  SiteLock claims that if a GoDaddy customer purchased a SiteLock subscription, but failed to activate it, GoDaddy would still provide a sale of the proceeds to SiteLock.  GoDaddy claims that this was not part of the agreement.  In order to prove their claims, SiteLock hired Software Expert Witness Dr. Steven Kursh to provide expert testimony.  GoDaddy has filed a motion to exclude Dr. Kursh from testifying.

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6Summary:  Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witness testimony is allowed in part, even though the plaintiff argued that the expert was not qualified as he has not done billing in certain practices for over 25 years.

Facts:  This case (Ramos v. The Home Depot Inc – United States District Court  – Northern District of Texas – March 1st, 2022) involves a personal injury claim.  The plaintiff, an employee at The Home Depot, claims that she was injured while she was walking to back of the gardening department.  Ramos states that she slipped on an unidentified substance on the floor and sustained severe injuries to her entire body.  In order to prove their case, The Home Depot has hired Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witness Dr. Benzel MacMaster to provide expert testimony.  Ramos has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary:  Radiology Expert Witness testimony is allowed despite the defendant’s claims that the expert witnesses causation theory that the accident caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage is not supported by empirical evidence.

Facts:  This case (Ortiz v. ReliaStar Life Ins. – United States District Court – Eastern District of Texas – February 17th, 2022) involves a claim against an insurance company for a denial of benefits related to a vehicle accident.  The plaintiff’s husband passed away on April 13th, 2018 after he was rear-ended while they were at a red light.  Ortiz’s husband, William, asked his sons not to tell his wife, Shemily, about the accident as he did not want her to be upset.  The next morning, William was taken to the hospital, where Shemily learned about the accident.  A CT scan revealed that William had a subarachnoid hemorrhage (“SAH”) and a radiologist diagnosed him with “ruptured flow related aneurysm related to [arteriovenous malformation (‘AVM’)]”.  William subsequently passed away from the SAH.  ReliaStar denied Shemily’s insurance claim as the policy excludes loss directly or indirectly caused by a physical illness, namely the AVM.  The plaintiff hired Radiology Expert Witness Sina Meisamy, M.D. to provide expert testimony.  The defendant filed a motion to exclude this testimony.

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Summary: Securities Expert Witness was not allowed to testify in a broker-dealer case as the court determined that the expert is not qualified to offer an opinion on broker-dealer’s systems.

Facts:  This case (Securities and Exchange Commission v. Lek Securities Corporation et al – United States District Court – April 8th, 2019) involves securities.  The plaintiff sued the defendant alleging that traders engaged in two schemes to manipulate the securities markets and that they did so through trading at a broker-dealer based in New York.  The plaintiff brought claims for violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”).  The defendants have hired Securities Expert Witness Roger Begelman to provide testimony.  The plaintiff has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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