Dist. Ct. erred in denying plaintiff’s motion for new trial, where said motion was based on claim that Dist. Ct. erred in excluding from jury, opinion of plaintiff’s expert that defendant’s forklift, from which plaintiff fell, was negligently designed because it failed to include as standard feature door to enclose operating compartment. While Dist. Ct. held that plaintiff’s expert opinion about absence of door was inadmissible because it did not satisfy Rule 702 or satisfy test set forth in Daubert, 509 U.S. 579, Ct. of Appeals found that expert’s opinion was admissible, where: (1) expert had extensive training and experience in failure analysis; and (2) expert’s methodology in visiting accident site and reviewing forklift data was scientifically valid. Fact that expert’s opinion had been rejected in other cases did not require different result.
Federal 7th Circuit Court
Civil Court
Expert Testimony