Expert Witness Blog

Summary:  Bus & Truck Safety/Accident Expert Witness testimony is allowed because the court determined that the expert is qualified to offer an opinion on whether the FMCSR applies to the driver of the truck.

Facts:  This case (Brown v. M and N Eaves et al – United States District Court – Eastern District of Texas – December 19, 2022) involves a car accident with a commercial vehicle.  The plaintiff, Lisa Brown, alleges that the defendant should be liable for negligent entrustment, and negligent supervision, retention, and training.  The plaintiff hired Bus & Truck Safety/Accident Expert Witness Roger Allen to provide expert witness testimony.  The defendant 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: 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: 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: Jails & Prisons Expert Witness testimony allowed as the plaintiff did not cite to caselaw regarding his argument that the expert works for the defendant and his opinion should be excluded.

Facts:  This case (Romero v. CORE CIVIC, INC – United States District Court – District of New Mexico – September 28, 2023) involves a breach of duty and constitutional rights against a prisoner in a private detention center.  The plaintiff, Ruben Romero, claims that the defendants placed him a unit with violent men, who beat him and left him unconscious.  The plaintiff also alleges that nobody came to his aid for half an hour. The defendant hired Jails & Prisons Expert Witness Charles Keeton to provide expert witness testimony.  The plaintiff filed a motion to exclude Mr. Keeton’s 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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Summary: Life Care Planning Expert Witness testimony not allowed because the expert did not have a medical endorsement from a qualified medical expert.

Facts:  This case (Norman v. Leonard’s Express, Inc. – United States District Court – Western District of Virginia – April 21, 2023) involves a motor vehicle accident between Yvette Norman (the plaintiff) and Julian J. Kaczor, the operator of a semitruck owned by Leonard’s Express, Inc (the defendant).  The plaintiff filed a motion to exclude the expert witness testimony of Life Care Planning Expert Witness Shelby Dubato.

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Summary: Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witness testimony is allowed because the court ruled that his expert opinion was not speculative because his testimony mirrored that of the state standard in Texas.

Facts:  This case (Connell West Trucking Co., Inc. et al v. Estes Express Lines et al – United States District Court – Western District of Texas – November 22, 2022) involves a personal injury claim.  One of the plaintiffs, Gucharan Singh, is seeking damages for future medical expenses for the injuries to his knee.  The plaintiff hired Orthopedic Surgery Expert Witness Dr. Robert Montgomery to provide expert testimony.  The defendant filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary:  Internal Medicine Expert Witness testimony allowed even though the plaintiff argued that the expert did not act within the standard of care when she did not contact an on-call physician.

Facts:  This case (Griffin v. Coffee County et al – United States District Court – Southern District of Georgia – August 19, 2022) involves a wrongful death action involving a prisoner who died while in custody.  The plaintiff alleges that the defendants violated the decedent’s (Shannon Rewis) standard of care because they left him in an observation cell when they found out that Mr. Lewis had ingested methamphetamine, rather than providing treatment or sending him somewhere else to receive care.  The defendants have hired Internal Medicine Expert Witness Dr. Robert Hall to provide an expert opinion on this case.  The plaintiff filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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Summary:  Cybersecurity Expert Witness testimony allowed in part as the court decided that the expert’s testimony was reliable based on his experience in cypersecurity forensics.

Facts:  This case (Savidge et al v. Pharm-Save, Inc. et al – United States District Court – Western District of Kentucky – March 31, 2023) involves a data breach claim.  The plaintiffs Andrea Savidge and Beth Lynch, former employees of the defendant, claim that Pharm-Save should be held liable for a data-breach in which sensitive and personal information was compromised.  The complaint maintains that a few Pharma-Save employees released this information to cyber-criminals who posed as company executives.  To assist their case, the plaintiffs hired Cybersecurity Expert Witness Vincent D’Agostino to provide expert witness testimony.  The defendant filed a motion to exclude this expert from testifying.

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