Experts
Expert Testimony in Mass Torts
Mass torts involve complicated scientific issues of product design, toxicology, epidemiology, or a combination of these issues. Because these matters cannot readily be understood without specialized knowledge, mass torts inevitably involve experts, with the concomitant battles over the relevance and reliability of expert opinions.[1] Mass torts are not just fertile grounds for Daubert opinions; they have also seen the creation and use of “Daubert-lite” proceedings early in life of a mass tort, which can result in “Lone Pine” orders that significantly alter the future of the litigation.
[1] Note that while I focus more on scientific knowledge, expert testimony is about specialized knowledge, a category that encompasses not only science, but also the entire universe of specialized knowledge. See Kumho Tire Co., Ltd. v. Carmichael, 526 U.S. 137, 149 (1999).