THE CHALLENGE OF ACHIEVING DISCOVERY FROM THIRD-PARTY, NON-RETAINED EXPERTS
In: Saint Louis University Law Journal, Jg. 61 (2017-04-01), S. 573
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Zugriff:
Introduction There is an almost natural tension between science and litigation, arising from the inherent unpleasantness scientists must endure because of the demands of litigation. 1 Tensions between litigation and science can become particularly severe when discovery is directed at a non-party, non-retained expert, scientist, or researcher. 2 Consider the following hypothetical: during products liability litigation, the plaintiff's expert takes the stand and testifies the defendant's product caused the plaintiff's injury. When asked to describe the basis for his opinion, the plaintiff's expert explains how he formed his opinion by relying upon a paper published by an independent researcher. The results of the research paper explain how the defendant's product causes the same type of injury suffered by the plaintiff. On cross-examination, the defense tries to impeach the foundational underpinnings of the expert's testimony by attacking the merits of the research paper the expert relied upon. However, since the expert only analyzed the research paper, the defendant's attorney is unable to identify any flaws in the underlying data supporting the independent researcher's conclusions in the paper. Therefore, the defendant is forced to accept the research presented as correct and it can be relied upon in the current litigation. The jury, accepting the expert's conclusions and reasoning, awards millions of dollars to the plaintiff. This hypothetical highlights the need for the defendant's attorney to acquire the information used by the independent researcher. Because the expert relied heavily on the independent researcher's paper when forming an expert ...
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THE CHALLENGE OF ACHIEVING DISCOVERY FROM THIRD-PARTY, NON-RETAINED EXPERTS
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Levitt, Steven N. |
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Zeitschrift: | Saint Louis University Law Journal, Jg. 61 (2017-04-01), S. 573 |
Veröffentlichung: | 2017 |
Medientyp: | academicJournal |
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