The expert witness: The impact of Kuhmo

The expert witness is a valuable person and, at times, indispensable for the purposes of resolving the legal case. In the federal Courts of the United States, testimonial evidence is permitted to be presented to the jury or the judge under strict rules. These rules are referred to as the Federal Rules of Evidence. During the past twenty years, many product liability cases have been decided by the United States Supreme Court. These decisions have altered how the expert witness is utilized by the litigating parties in all other types of cases. In recent times, no other cases have impacted the Federal Rules of Evidence (and testimony offered by expert witnesses) more than the cases of Dow Pharmaceuticals and Kuhmo Tires. It is the intent of this in article to discuss the nature of these cases and their impact on the expert witness and the Federal Rules of Evidence. Background to these rules, including admissibility and weight of evidence, and sufficiency of expert testimony, is also provided.