White Paper Analyzes Rulings on the Admissibility of Expert Financial Testimony

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the “Daubert Trilogy” in the 1990s, the admissibility of expert witness testimony has become a major issue in federal and state court litigation.

In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 509 U.S. 579 (1993), the Supreme Court replaced the “general acceptance” standard for the admissibility of expert testimony of Frye v. United States with the two-part test of Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This new test required that expert testimony (1) must be reliable—based on recognized knowledge, and (2) must be relevant—of assistance to the trier of fact.

During the six years following the Daubert decision, 1,065 federal court opinions were issued on the admissibility of expert testimony. And the number has continued to grow.

In order to help practitioners keep up with the issues and trends in this area, Wolters Kluwer Law & Business has published a white paper, entitled Challenges to the Admissibility of Expert Financial Testimony: 2005-2008, written by Bruce S. Schaeffer, Susan Ogulnick, and Sara Ann Schaeffer of Franchise Valuations, Ltd.

The authors review the 85 challenges to the admission of expert financial testimony between 2005 and 2008 and report the results of those challenges. In addition to a general analysis of the decisions, the study contains charts that categorize the type of expert involved in each case and summarize the outcomes of each decision.

The white paper is available for free download here.

About the Authors

Bruce S. Schaeffer is an attorney in private practice in New York City and the founder and president of Franchise Valuations Ltd, a firm that provides expert testimony, performs lender due diligence, and resolves succession and estate planning problems for the franchise community. Mr. Schaeffer is also co-author of CCH Franchise Regulation and Damages, a treatise explaining franchise law, the computation of damages in franchise litigation, the assessment of legal risks, the valuation of franchises, and the use of expert witnesses.

Susan Ogulnick is Vice President of Research and Operations for Franchise Valuations, Ltd. She has more than 20 years of experience in the information industry and is a recognized authority in acquiring information about hard-to-value entities. Sara Anne Schaeffer is an intern at Franchise Valuations Ltd.