Category: Expert Witnesses

Rihanna sues her father over use of their shared name

Although many people know her simply as Rihanna, the worldwide superstar’s full name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty. Rihanna has trademarked the name “Fenty” and used it for various branded ventures, most notably her successful beauty line Fenty Beauty.  Certainly the name has value and is worth protecting.   As reported by TMZ, Rihanna is currently endeavoring to …

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Defend Trade Secrets Act Provides Federal Protection from Misappropriation

Defend Trade Secrets Act “DTSA” now provides federal protection against and remedies for trade secret misappropriation that previously existed via the state courts.  DTSA defines a  trade secret as: “All forms and types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information, including patterns, plans, compilations, program devices, formulas, designs, prototypes, methods, techniques, processes, procedures, …

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Appeals Court Requires a Medical Expert to Prove Discomfort Causation

The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment for Marathon Oil Corporation in their defense against a case brought by Michael and Myra Cerny.  The underlying litigation alleged that emissions from Marathon plants caused the Cernys various injuries and property damage. However, the Cernys presented no expert medical testimony on the causation of …

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Supreme Court To Address Use of Statistics For Class Action Certification

The April 2013 Supreme Court decision in Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864, was a profound change benefitting companies facing class action lawsuits.  The Court held that a plaintiff seeking certification must establish through “evidentiary proof” that damages can be measured on a class-wide basis.  Individual damage issues can defeat class certification where those issues …

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Expert Can Still Testify, Despite Opinions Being Thrown Out

A recent case illustrated how expert testimony may still be appropriate even when all of the expert’s actual opinions are deemed inadmissible.  In Ross v. Rothstein (March 12, 2015), the Court concluded that an expert’s testimony still offered information helpful to the Court with regard to underlying facts that supported his improper (legal) opinions.  The Court cited …

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Court Requires Expert Witness to Have a Body and a Brain

A recent case addressed the interesting question of whether a corporation could serve as an expert witness.  The matter involved a breach of fiduciary duty case coordinated with an appraisal proceeding, in re Dole Food Company (“Dole”).  The defendants designated Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), a corporation, to serve as their expert witness regarding …

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Internet Real Estate Continues to Evolve with New gTLDs

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) announced that over 500 new generic top-level domains (“gTLDs”) have now been introduced into the Internet. The milestone 500th gTLD was .NTT, which represents Nippon Telegraph and Telephone. New domains are rolling out at an average of one per day.  ICANN has described its current process as the “Internet’s …

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Court rules indemnification plaintiff doesn’t have to rely only on former opposing expert.

In National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh Pa. v. Tokio Marine and Nichido Fire Insurance Co., the California Court of Appeal in the Second District held that a subsequent indemnity coverage action by an insurer may include expert opinions not presented by the original plaintiff’s experts in the underlying dispute.The underlying plaintiff settled with Costco …

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Defense Asks Court to Let the Witness Speak!

In a recent patent infringement case, a Rule 30(b)(6) deposition (of the person most knowledgeable or “PMK” of a corporation on defined topics) included over 300 objections by plaintiff’s lawyer.  The defense subsequently argued for additional time to re-depose the PMK, claiming that the large number of objections effectively “ran down the clock” and prevented …

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Three Strikes, Damages Out in Recent CA Class Certification

Jones v. ConAgra Foods, Inc. is a recent case that demonstrates the damages-based hurdles to obtaining class certification.  Despite Plaintiff’s presentation of three different damages models (“full refund,” “price premium,” and “regression”), Judge Charles R. Breyer concluded each failed to demonstrate class-wide damages. Because of this failure, Judge Breyer denied class certification. The case involved …

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