{"id":893421,"date":"2018-01-04T15:18:41","date_gmt":"2018-01-04T22:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=893421"},"modified":"2018-01-04T15:18:41","modified_gmt":"2018-01-04T22:18:41","slug":"asking-right-questions-experts-deposition-lay-foundation-clients-daubert-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/asking-right-questions-experts-deposition-lay-foundation-clients-daubert-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Asking the Right Questions at the Expert\u2019s Deposition to lay the foundation for your client\u2019s Daubert Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rosario M. Vignali | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.productliabilityadvocate.com\/2017\/10\/asking-the-right-questions-at-the-experts-deposition-to-lay-the-foundation-for-your-clients-daubert-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wilson Elser<\/a> | October 2, 2017<\/p>\n<p>Deposing your adversary\u2019s liability expert is not only a chance to delve into the details of the expert\u2019s opinions, but the deposition also presents a great opportunity for defense counsel to explore the sustainability of the expert\u2019s opinions going forward. In the context of a products liability case, the plaintiff\u2019s expert\u2019s deposition, if used wisely, can set up an effective challenge to the expert\u2019s proffered opinions under the Federal Rules and can result in the expert\u2019s eventual disqualification. Perhaps nothing is more devastating to the Plaintiff\u2019s case than the loss of his expert for all, or even part, of the case.<br \/>\n<span id=\"more-2106\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>To review, and at the risk of oversimplification,\u00a0<em>Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals<\/em>\u00a0(1992) and its progeny established the notion that our federal district trial courts should act as \u201cgatekeepers\u201d to assure that only sound expert testimony \u2013 that is, opinions that are the product of a valid scientific method \u2013 gets presented to a jury. Rule 702 requires the expert to be\u00a0<em>qualified<\/em>\u00a0by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education and further requires the opinions to be based upon\u00a0<em>sufficient facts and data<\/em>. The expert is supposed to utilize a legitimate\u00a0<em>methodology<\/em>\u00a0to develop his or her theories. Thus, an examination of the purported expert\u2019s qualifications, the facts and data upon which the opinions are grounded, and the expert\u2019s methodology are ripe for a thorough examination during the expert\u2019s deposition. What follows are suggestions regarding various lines of questioning that may effectively set up your adversary\u2019s expert for the later\u00a0<em>Daubert<\/em>\u00a0challenge should you encounter an expert\u2019s opinion that is the product of suspect qualifications, insufficient facts and data and\/or speculative methodology.<\/p>\n<p>In this multi-part blog series, we\u2019ll focus first on the expert\u2019s qualifications. Let\u2019s take the case of an expert who has rendered opinions about the allegedly defective design of a power tool. Effective examination during his deposition may reveal that, in fact, the expert has never designed a power tool in his life, has never been involved professionally in the manufacturing of a power tool and, certainly, has never written any books, articles or treatises on the design of such a product. Further examination may show that the expert has never been involved in the formulation of an Operator\u2019s Manual for a power tool (including its warnings\/instructions) or its warning labels. Chances are that he has never been consulted by a real-life manufacturer on quality control or testing procedures. There\u2019s even the chance, if not the likelihood, that the expert does not own a power tool and hasn\u2019t used one in many years.<\/p>\n<p>Experts like to tout their membership in various professional organizations as a way to buttress their claimed qualifications. By way of careful questioning, however, I often learn that membership in many of these professional organizations comes easily. For example, many of these so-called \u201cprofessional\u201d organizations only require that you fill out a form and send in a check for the dues \u2212 \u201cVOILA,\u201d you\u2019re a member of the \u201cXYZ Association of Widget Engineers.\u201d Should one be impressed by mere membership in a myriad of such organizations?<\/p>\n<p>Instead, in my experience I often have found that the purported expert has been an inactive member of the organization for many years and cannot even recall the last time that he or she has actually attended a meeting of the professional society. Even if active, it is often the case that the expert has never sat on any subcommittee that actually sets safety standards for any product, such as Underwriters Laboratories, the American Society for Testing and Materials and\/or ANSI and has never partaken in the actual process of writing voluntary or mandatory design standards. It also is likely that the purported expert has never worked, or consulted, with the Consumer Product Safety Commission or OSHA \u2013 two government organizations with direct regulatory powers over many of the products we encounter in everyday life.<\/p>\n<p>Many experts we encounter on the defense side of products liability cases, in order to showcase their purported expertise and experience, frequently mention that they have handled similar cases in the past. That may be true, but careful questioning (after some old-fashioned investigation) often will establish that the expert has been involved in, and given opinions of \u201cdefect\u201d about, nearly every kind of product imaginable. The \u201cA to Z\u201d method of questioning is often used here: \u201c<em>Mr. Expert, you have rendered opinions before in a case involving an aerial lifts? Brake press? Crane? Drill?<\/em>\u201d \u2013 and so on. Done effectively, this kind of questioning shows the expert to be more of the \u201cjack-of-all-trades\u201d type with no real expertise in any particular area or discipline relevant to the case at hand.<\/p>\n<p>Experts, of course, like to tout their extensive education and formal training in order to support the notion that he or she is qualified to render their opinions. Their CV will be riddled with many degrees from various educational institutions and they will undoubtedly have amassed a series of initials after their name \u2013 like Ph. D. or P.E. Closer examination during the deposition is warranted, however. In my experience, I have found experts with degrees in mechanical engineering trying to render opinions more appropriate for an electrical engineer, and vice-versa. They may have a degree in some relevant field of engineering, but not a license.\u00a0 Sometimes they claim expertise in accident reconstruction but, upon further questioning, concede that the claim is based on in-field experience only and not through any formalized education or instruction.<\/p>\n<p>In my next article, we\u2019ll examine the next area of potential questioning to set up a successful\u00a0<em>Daubert\u00a0<\/em>challenge \u2013 these questions specifically targeting the \u201csufficient facts and data\u201d upon which the expert\u2019s opinions are supposed to based.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rosario M. Vignali | Wilson Elser | October 2, 2017 Deposing your adversary\u2019s liability expert is not only a chance to delve into the details of the expert\u2019s opinions, but the deposition also presents a great opportunity for defense counsel to explore the sustainability of the expert\u2019s opinions going forward. In the context of a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/asking-right-questions-experts-deposition-lay-foundation-clients-daubert-challenge\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Asking the Right Questions at the Expert\u2019s Deposition to lay the foundation for your client\u2019s Daubert Challenge<\/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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[9895,98,474,17],"class_list":["post-893421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-expert-witness","tag-advise-consult","tag-daubert-challenge","tag-deposition","tag-expert-witness-2","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Asking the Right Questions at the Expert\u2019s Deposition to lay the foundation for your client\u2019s Daubert Challenge - Advise &amp; 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