After more than five years of uncertainty, the Florida Supreme Court’s opinion in DeLisle v. Crane finally settled the debate over the standard for determining the admissibility of expert witness testimony in Florida state courts. Case No. SC16-2182 (Fla. Oct. 15, 2018). In a narrow 4-3 decision, the court rejected Daubert and adopted Frye. The outcome should come as no surprise. In 2017, in a rarely exercised move, the Florida Supreme Court declined to adopt the legislature’s 2013 revisions to the Florida Evidence Code codifying Daubert.

Continue Reading Frye Is Now, and Once Again, the Standard for Expert Opinion Admissibility in Florida

BusinessTestimony_HorPart 2 of Series on Florida’s Adoption of the Daubert Standard for Admissibility of Expert Testimony

The Florida legislature’s adoption of the Daubert Standard for admissibility of expert testimony took several sessions to pass as a well-organized Plaintiff’s Bar fought hard against it. However, the legislature’s affinity for laws that promote the growth of business within the state eventually won the day. Why did the Plaintiffs’ Bar resist?

Continue Reading Why Do Florida Plaintiff’s Attorneys Dread the Application of Daubert?

ScienceExpertTestimonyFlorida jurors are now considering more reliable expert testimony since the Florida legislature reformed the court’s role in precluding unreliable expert testimony. Starting July 1, 2013, the court has to follow the Daubert standard, which requires a judge to exercise greater scrutiny of the facts and data on which an expert’s opinions are based.  As a result, Florida defense lawyers and their clients have a stronger arrow in their quiver to attack a plaintiff’s case that’s based on shaky expert opinions.
Continue Reading Florida’s More Stringent Daubert Standard: Part 1