Focused Expertise-Daubert in Franchise Litigation.

Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, this disclosure must be accompanied by a written report- prepared and signed by the witness-if the witness is one retained or specially employed to provide expert testimony in the case or one whose duties as the party's employee regularly involve giving expert testimony. Federal Judge Robert J. Hemphill defined an expert witness as "a man you pay to say your way."[1] When those words were spoken in 1978, the venerable Frye standard, enunciated in 1923,[2] governed the admissibility of expert testimony. The shorthand is (1) qualifications, (2) reliability, and (3) helpfulness.[14] While some overlap exists, courts generally analyze each concept.[15] Whether expert testimony is admissible depends on a court's analysis of these elements. In the final installment, Kumho Tire Company, Ltd. v. Carmichael, [12] the Supreme Court rejected the argument that Daubert applies only to "scientific" testimony; the Daubert test governs all expert witness testimony. [Extracted from the article]