Provided by Stephen Mahle, J.D., Ph.D.

In its 1993 Daubert v. Merrell Dow opinion, the United States Supreme Court articulated an entirely new set of criteria for the admissibility of scientific expert testimony. In its 1999 Kumho Tire v. Carmichael opinion, the Court extended Daubert's general holding to include non-scientific expert testimony as well.

Most modern litigation relies upon the testimony of experts and this testimony can play a dispositive role in business litigation. Even after having lost on liability, lawyers are winning cases by using newly available techniques, suggested by Daubert and Kumho Tire, to exclude the expert testimony that links money damages to the act or omission for which their client has been found liable. This site is provided as a resource for business litigators who seek information on current admissibility criteria for expert testimony or scientifically trained legal analysis of particular admissibility questions.

The site contains legal/scientific analysis of the cases, beginning in Introduction to Daubert, which discusses the Daubert Court's holding and explains the scientific principles that the Court cites.  The Daubert introduction links to a brief discussion of Kumho Tire v. Carmichael, the Court's 1999 extension of Daubert to non-scientific testimony. The Daubert introduction discusses Daubert applications in securities litigation. More in-depth discussions of Daubert applications in securities litigation, antitrust and employment discrimination are contained in their respective sections, as is an introduction to some of the statistical and econometric issues that courts are now considering carefully in Daubert hearings. Much of this material is taken from my published articles and seminar materials. Some of it is from a draft of a chapter that is about to appear in a business litigation looseleaf published by the Florida Bar. The final version will appear in "Business Litigation in Florida," 4th ed. (2001) which is projected to be available in February 2001. The publisher notwithstanding, Daubert is a federal court precedent and most of the materials contained here are federal materials, although there are Florida State Court materials mixed in as well. The Florida Bar will be happy to sell you a copy of the manual. Call 1-800-342-8060, extension 6651. All materials are provided for information purposes only, are not intended as, and cannot be considered, legal advice.

All materials provided here are in the public domain or are used by permission. Cases and secondary materials are prepared carefully, but no representation is made that they are complete or accurate. The site is maintained by an attorney/economist whose practice related to this site is concentrated in legal issues of admissibility of expert testimony. While all are welcome to browse, no one should ever take any action based upon the information provided here, but should consult legal counsel for analysis of legal issues.

 email to: mailto:smahle@daubertexpert.com or phone 561.367.7676 or fax 561.392.4309.