{"id":226,"date":"2011-12-12T08:37:18","date_gmt":"2011-12-12T15:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=226"},"modified":"2011-12-12T08:37:18","modified_gmt":"2011-12-12T15:37:18","slug":"expert-testimony-by-engineer-needed-to-prove-constructiondesign-defect-claim-utah-court-of-appeals-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/expert-testimony-by-engineer-needed-to-prove-constructiondesign-defect-claim-utah-court-of-appeals-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"Expert Testimony by Engineer Needed to Prove Construction\/Design Defect Claim, Utah Court of Appeals Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carl G. Roberts and Matthew L. Moncur – December 5, 2011<\/p>\n

The Utah Court of Appeals has ruled that expert testimony from a civil engineer was needed to establish two essential elements\u2014breach of duty and causation\u2014in a negligence case alleging an injury caused by a defect in design or construction.<\/p>\n

The November 25, 2011, decision in Spafford v. Granite Credit Union upholds a trial judge\u2019s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant. Anthony C. Kaye and Matthew M. Moncur of Ballard Spahr\u2019s Salt Lake City office represented Granite.<\/p>\n

In the suit, plaintiffs Iris and Earl Spafford brought claims for negligence and loss of consortium, alleging that Mrs. Spafford sustained injuries when she fell stepping up from a parking lot onto a curb while walking into a credit union branch. The suit alleged that the fall was caused by \u201cdesign and construction defects,\u201d and that the parking lot of the credit union branch was in a dangerous and defective condition.<\/p>\n

Granite moved for summary judgment, relying on the affidavit of its expert, a civil engineer, who testified that the curb and parking lot area was not dangerous or defective, that it was not in violation of any building code requirements, and that the physical features of its facility were not the cause of Mrs. Spafford\u2019s fall.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs failed to timely serve their expert disclosure, but attempted to rely on an affidavit from their untimely disclosed expert and on lay testimony from Mr. Spafford to oppose the defense motion. The trial court granted Granite\u2019s motion to strike the affidavit of the plaintiffs\u2019 expert due to the untimely disclosure. After striking plaintiffs\u2019 lay opinion testimony, the trial judge entered summary judgment for the defendant, holding that, in the absence of expert testimony, the plaintiffs could not establish the elements of breach of duty and causation essential to their negligence claim.<\/p>\n

On appeal, the plaintiffs argued there was no need for expert testimony, and that the trial court erred by relying on Fox v. Brigham Young University, a 2007 ruling by the Court of Appeals that also upheld the dismissal of a negligence claim due to lack of expert witness support.<\/p>\n

The plaintiffs argued that Fox was factually different from their case because a key issue in Fox was whether expert medical testimony was necessary to establish an injured party\u2019s prior medical condition had not caused her fall. The Court of Appeals acknowledged the factual differences, but found that Fox nonetheless supports the general principal that expert testimony is required when \u201cbreach of duty and causation are beyond the common scope and experience of lay persons.\u201d The plaintiffs needed expert testimony from a civil engineer, the Court of Appeals found, to prove that the height of the curb or the slope of the asphalt violated \u201cspecific industry standards\u201d or amounted to \u201ca deviation from accepted practice.\u201d Quoting the trial judge, the appellate panel held that \u201cwhere the average person has little understanding of the duties owed by particular trades and professions, expert testimony must ordinarily be presented to establish the standard of care.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur research suggests that expert witnesses are routinely used in cases involving the height and slope of curbs and steps,\u201d Judge J. Frederic Voros, Jr., wrote on behalf of the unanimous three-judge panel. The plaintiffs, Judge Voros wrote, \u201chave not demonstrated that this general rule should not apply here.\u201d<\/p>\n

After affirming the trial court\u2019s ruling to strike plaintiffs\u2019 expert affidavit, the Court of Appeals held that the trial court did not err in dismissing the plaintiffs\u2019 negligence claim for failure to present expert testimony on the elements of breach of duty and causation.<\/p>\n

via Expert testimony by engineer needed to prove construction\/design defect claim, Utah Court of Appeals rules – Lexology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carl G. Roberts and Matthew L. Moncur – December 5, 2011 The Utah Court of Appeals has ruled that expert testimony from a civil engineer was needed to establish two essential elements\u2014breach of duty and causation\u2014in a negligence case alleging an injury caused by a defect in design or construction. The November 25, 2011, decision… Continue reading Expert Testimony by Engineer Needed to Prove Construction\/Design Defect Claim, Utah Court of Appeals Rules<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14,4,7],"tags":[24,75],"class_list":["post-226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-2","category-construction-defects","category-expert-witness","tag-construction-defect","tag-engineer","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nExpert Testimony by Engineer Needed to Prove Construction\/Design Defect Claim, Utah Court of Appeals Rules - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/expert-testimony-by-engineer-needed-to-prove-constructiondesign-defect-claim-utah-court-of-appeals-rules\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Expert Testimony by Engineer Needed to Prove Construction\/Design Defect Claim, Utah Court of Appeals Rules - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Carl G. 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