Theodore Babbitt | Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley In Wirley v. Central Florida Young Men’s Christian Association, 228 So.3rd 18 (Florida, 2017), the Supreme Court ruled disclosure of a financial relationship between a party, a plaintiff’s attorney and an expert, is no longer discoverable. That Court did not, answer the question of whether the same… Continue reading What is the Status of Discovery of an Expert Witness Relationship?
Category: Expert Witness
Reliance On Expert Opinions Demonstrates Reasonableness
Burns White The Eastern District of Pennsylvania recently granted an insurer’s motion to dismiss a bad faith claim after finding that the insurer immediately conducted an investigation into the insured’s claim by hiring two professionals, and reasonably relied on the professionals’ opinions when denying the insured’s claim. See Covenant Realty v. Westminster American Ins. Co., 2021 WL… Continue reading Reliance On Expert Opinions Demonstrates Reasonableness
Courts Deal With “Dual-Hat” Experts: Part I
Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(2)(B)(ii) governs testifying experts’ duty to produce “the facts or data considered by the witness in forming” his or her opinion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4)(D) governs dramatically different non-testifying consulting experts. Not surprisingly, witnesses might switch from one role to the other, and also might possess arguably pertinent facts… Continue reading Courts Deal With “Dual-Hat” Experts: Part I
Courts Deal With “Dual-Hat” Experts: Part II
Thomas E. Spahn | McGuireWoods Last week’s Privilege Point addressed a court’s careful sorting out of discovery issues implicated when a non-testifying consulting expert created documents arguably related to his later role as a testifying expert. About two weeks later, the Southern District of New York (Judge Caproni) dealt with other issues involving non-testifying experts. In In re… Continue reading Courts Deal With “Dual-Hat” Experts: Part II
No Bad Faith When Insurer Relied on Opinion of Independent Consultant
Alycen A. Moss and Elliot Kerzner | Property Insurance Law Observer The Court of Appeals of Georgia recently held that an insurer’s reliance on the report of an independent consultant creates a presumption that it did not act in bad faith in denying coverage. In Montgomery v. Travelers Home and Marine Ins. Co., 859 S.E.2d 130… Continue reading No Bad Faith When Insurer Relied on Opinion of Independent Consultant