1. Florida state courts will no longer apply the Frye standard for determining the admissibility of expert testimony, and will instead follow the Daubert standard.
2. The Daubert standard requires expert testimony to be based on sufficient facts or data, reliable principles and methods, and applied reliably to the facts of the case.
3. The change is a result of HB 7015, signed into law by Governor Rick Scott, effective July 1, 2013. 1) The Daubert analysis makes testimony previously admissible as pure opinion testimony subject to scrutiny.
2) The analysis requires evaluating the expert’s qualifications, methodology reliability, and testimony relevance.
3) The party seeking to qualify the expert has the burden of meeting these elements by a preponderance standard.
4) The primary reliability factors to be considered when addressing the admissibility of expert testimony include whether the theory has been tested, subject to peer review, has a known or potential error rate, follows standards, and is generally accepted in the scientific community.
5) The Daubert standard focuses more on process than conclusions, forcing practitioners to confront how the expert supports the testimony. – The burden of qualification for lawyers and judges has increased.
– More Daubert related motions are being filed to challenge the admissibility of experts.
– Experts are being retained earlier in cases to identify potential Daubert issues and prepare for the depositions of opposing experts.
https://www.jimersonfirm.com/blog/2014/11/expert-testimony-admission-standard-florida-analysis-2013-transition-frye-daubert/
Leave a Reply