Expert Testimony Rules of Evidence for Court Witnesses: Seminars and Education; Daubert Kumho Joiner Frye expert witness opinion gatekeeping standards.

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Getting the Opinion In: The Daubert-Joiner-Kumho Tests.

By Leonard Bucklin

"Here in the most compact form possible, is practical advice on what you and the expert need to know and do. A good expert witness should be prepared to withstand questioning under either the Frye standards, still used in many states, or those applied under the Daubert / Kumho tests, used in the federal courts and many states. An expert who is knowledgeable about, and comfortable with, the legal aspects of being an expert witness becomes a more effective and therefore more valuable expert. An attorney who does not get his expert's testimony into evidence is probably going to lose the case!"

© Copyright Leonard H. Bucklin 2000 to 08/28/2007 © All rights reserved. No copying or distribution of this material may be made without the express written consent of the copyright holder. See Legal Notices.

You are here because you want practical, but scholarly advice. You want your expert witness's expert opinion to meet today's expert witness testimony standards. The author uses the style for which he known, to give you scholarly advice without scholarly jargon.

This is a long article. That is why we have this table of contents page. You can click on links in the table of contents to go directly where you want. Or simply read the entire article, by clicking on the "Summary of This Article" link below, and as you read each page, there is a "next page" link at the bottom of each page which eventually will take you through the entire article.

Summary of This Article.

Conclusion About Admissible Expert Opinions, including the short form "Eight Eligibility Elements".

Choose an Expert who can provide an Admissible Opinion.

Short History of the Gatekeeper's Role.

1. The Federal Supreme Court.

    A. Daubert Imposed the Gatekeeper Function and Emphasized Looking at the Expert=s Methodology.
    B. Joiner Imposed the Requirement of Looking at the Logic that the Expert Uses to Bridge from Data to Conclusion.
    C. Kumho Applies Gate keeping to All Experts, but Makes the Tests Flexible.

2. The Federal Circuit Courts.

    A. Fifth Circuit.
    B. Eighth Circuit.

3. The State Courts.

    A. Generally.
    B. Texas.
    C. North Dakota.

[Note: The Daubert Tracker at MDEX Online has a case tracker if you want to research a particular case, a particular jurisdiction, or even a particular expert involved in Daubert decisions. Peter Nordberg has excellent written materials on Daubert doctrine at http://www.daubertontheweb.com ]

Experts and Attorneys interested in this article should also look at the Expert Opinion Admissibility Checklist sold at www.LawyerTrialForms.com. The "checklist" starts with a brisk report telling you about the factors involved in the legal gate keeping requirements for expert witness opinions, and concludes with a laundry style checklist for admissibility of an expert's opinion. Go to information on full checklist.

Tactics Tips and Further Thoughts on Getting an Expert=s Opinion Admitted or Excluded

APPENDIXES

Appendix 1: The Admissibility Laundry Checklist 17

Appendix 2. Principal Cases for Further Reading. 20

Appendix 3. Pre-trial Order to Obviate Waste of Time/Expense.

Appendix 4. Daubert Research on the Internet.

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© Copyright Leonard H. Bucklin 2000 to 01/30/2008 © All rights reserved. No copying or distribution of this material may be made without the express written consent of the copyright holder. For more information - see the Legal Notices.