Articles Posted in Expert Witness Testimony

Summary: Electronic Discovery Expert Witness testimony not excluded even though the defendant argued that testimony on “Null Message Bodies” is not relevant because it is not evidence of user deletion.

Facts:  This case (Pajak v. Under Armour – United States District Court – Northern District of West Virginia – October 24, 2022) involves a claim of wrongful discharge.  The plaintiff, Cynthia D. Pajak, filed suit against her former employer, Under Armour, alleging that she was discharged in retaliation because she reported numerous instances of workplace behavior that she deemed inappropriate.  In addition, Pajak argues that she was a victim of gender discrimination.  To assist in her case, the plaintiff hired Electronic Discovery Expert Witness Craig Corkrean to provide expert testimony.  The defendant filed a motion to exclude this testimony.

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Summary: Architecture Expert Witness testimony allowed in part even though the plaintiff argued that an opinion on substantial similarity is not needed as the test is whether the designs are similar to an ordinary observer.

Facts:  This case (Design Basics, LLC v. Forrester Wehrle Homes, Inc. et al – United States District Court – Northern District of Ohio – May 23rd, 2019) involves a copyright infringement claim.  The plaintiff alleges that the defendant infringed their copyrights in a number of architectural plans and used them without permission to build single-family homes in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.  The defendant has hired Architecture Expert Witness Richard Kraly to provide testimony in this case.  The plaintiff has filed a motion to exclude this testimony.

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Summary: Spine Surgery Expert Witness allowed even though the plaintiff argued that the expert witness did not have the knowledge or education to testify on velocity of the collision.

Facts: This case (Miller v. Secura Supreme Insurance Company – United States District Court – District of Colorado – Jul 6th, 2023) involves an insurance claim for uninsured and underinsured motorist benefits. The defendant paid out $22,436.71 and stated to the plaintiff that they disputed the cause and the extent of the injuries claimed because he was also in an accident in 2017. The defendant requested that the plaintiff go to an independent evaluation by B. Andrew Castro, M.D.  After Dr. Castro submitted his report, the defendant continued to deny additional monies to the plaintiff. The plaintiff filed suit. As part of the case, the defendant hired Dr. Castro as a Spine Surgery Expert Witness. The plaintiff then filed suit to exclude Dr. Castro’s expert witness testimony.

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Summary:  Statistics Expert Witness allowed to provide testimony even though the defendant argued that his opinion should be excluded due to inconsistencies and errors.

Facts:  This case (Cone et al v. Sanitarios Lamosa S.A. DE C.V. et al – United States District Court – Eastern District of Texas – September 17th, 2019) involves a claim of alleged manufacturing and/or marketing defects of ceramic toilet tanks made by the the defendant.  The plaintiff has hired Shawn Casper, Ph.D. (Statistics Expert Witness) to provide expert witness testimony.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude the expert testimony of this witness.

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Summary: Epidemiology Expert Witness allowed to testify in products liability case despite arguments that she changed her testimony.

Facts:  This case (Barrera, et al. v. Monsanto Company  – Superior Court of the State of Delaware – May 31st, 2019) involves a products liability claim.  The plaintiffs allege that their cancer was caused by exposure to the defendant’s herbicide product, commonly known as Roundup.  The plaintiffs have hired Epidemiology Expert Witness Dr. Beate Ritz to provide testimony.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Professional Engineering Expert Witness allowed to provide testimony in part even though the defendant argued that the expert’s opinions would not assist the trier of fact.

Facts:  This case (Leftridge v. Speedway LLC – United States District Court – Northern District of Indiana – October 10th, 2019) involves a slip and fall claim.  The plaintiff Tayell Leftridge alleges that the defendant Speedway should be liable for injuries that she suffered when she slipped and fell on a wet floor at one of defendant’s stores in Hobart, Indiana.  The plaintiff has hired H. Richard Hicks (Professional Engineering Expert Witness) to provide testimony.  The defendant has filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary: Accident Reconstruction Expert Witness testimony allowed because the court concluded that his use of simulations was reliable and helpful to the jury.

Facts:  This case (Abbott et al v. Mega Trucking, LLC et al – United States District Court – Middle District of Alabama – March 24, 2023) involves a personal liability claim resulting from a crash between two tractor-trailers.  The plaintiff, Touri Abbott, alleges that Patrice Lumumba Morgan did not yield the right of way and is seeking recovery under numerous bases including negligence and wantonness.  The plaintiff hired three experts to prove her case, including Accident Reconstruction Expert Witness William F. Messerschmidt.  The defendants filed a motion to exclude the expert witness testimony of these experts, including Mr Messerschmidt.

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Summary: Software Engineering Expert Witness testimony not allowed even though the United States alleged that they provided more expert witness information in discovery.

Facts: This case (United States of America v. Minkkinen et al – United States District Court – Southern District of West Virginia – June 26, 2023) involves a federal criminal indictment related to the theft of trader secrets by former employees of Deloitte. The United States Government alleges that the defendants copied and downloaded numerous pieces of proprietary information and utilized that information during their employment at a competitor.   To support its case, the government hired Software Engineering Expert Witness Walter Overby to provide expert witness testimony.  The defendants filed a motion to exclude Mr. Overby from testifying.

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Summary: Education & Schools Expert Witness testimony is granted in part and denied in part despite the fact that the plaintiff argued that her expert opinion on Title IX is not a proper subject of expert testimony.

Facts: This case (Pogorzelska v. VanderCook College of Music – United States District Court – Northern District of Illinois – June 5th, 2023) involves a Title IX claim against a college. The plaintiff, Erika Pogorzelska, alleges she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus party when she was attending school at the defendant college. The plaintiff claims that the defendant did not address her allegations of sexual assault and harassment, and then retaliated against her, which is in violation of Title IX of federal education law. The defendant hired Education & Schools Expert Witness Sandra Schuster to provide an expert opinion. The plaintiff subsequently filed a motion to exclude Schuster’s expert witness testimony.

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Summary: Marketing Expert Witness testimony allowed even though the plaintiff argued that the expert did not employ any methodology to his marketing opinion.

Facts: This case (United States v. Runner – United States District Court – Eastern District of New York – May 30, 2023) involves a government claim against the defendant related to a mail order psychic services scheme. The defendant was charged on October 18, 2018 with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering.  The Government claims that Patrice Runner told her clients that they would receive personalized psychic services from popular psychics in exchange for money.  The defendant hired Marketing Expert Witness David Gal to provide expert testimony. The Government filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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