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Course Details

This CLE webinar will examine the recent amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 clarifying the admissibility standard for expert witnesses and the purpose behind the amendments. The panel will address how the amended rule will affect the use of expert witnesses in employment litigation, from witness selection to successfully bringing or defending a Daubert challenge. The panel will examine recent cases to see how the courts are interpreting the amended rule and offer best practices for practitioners.

Faculty

Description

Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was recently amended with its most significant changes in almost 25 years to clarify the standard for admitting expert testimony in light of frequent misapplication by courts regarding the burden and the courts' gatekeeping role over expert testimony.

Under the amended rule, when it comes to admitting expert testimony: (1) the proponent has the burden to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the expert's methods are "more likely than not" reliable and meet the admissibility requirements set forth in the rule; and (2) the expert's opinion must reflect a reliable application of the principles and methods to the facts of the case, requiring a tighter connection between experts' opinions and the methods they use.

Employment litigators should understand what effects the amended rule may have when using expert witnesses--including selecting expert witnesses to meet the clarified admissibility standard and survive Daubert challenges, eliciting testimony from the expert in a deposition to undermine their credentials, and successfully bringing or defending a Daubert challenge.

Listen as our expert panel discusses amended Rule 702 and its impact on using expert witnesses in employment litigation. The panel will review recent case law to examine how the courts are interpreting the amended rule and offer best practices for practitioners.

Outline

  1. Amended Rule 702
    • Purpose
    • Revisions
  2. Impact on using expert witnesses in employment litigation
    • Selecting an expert witness
    • Deposing and defending the expert witness
    • Bringing and defending a Daubert challenge
  3. How the courts are interpreting the new standard
  4. Practitioner takeaways

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key considerations:

  • What are the amendments to Rule 702, and what was the purpose in amending the rule?
  • How may the clarified admissibility standard for expert witnesses affect witness selection?
  • What impact may the amended rule have on taking and defending expert witness depositions? Bringing and defending Daubert challenges?
  • How are the courts interpreting the amended rule?