<i>Daubert </i>Tool Lets Lawyers Track History of Experts

Expert testimony can be the linchpin that makes or breaks a case. But lawyers have had a tougher time getting that testimony admitted since 1993, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals that scientific testimony must be not only relevant, but reliable. In 1999's Kumho Tire v. Carmichael, the Court extended that rule to all experts.

This means that a lawyer preparing to qualify or challenge an expert at trial must answer a number of questions. What is the state of the case law under Daubert? How has the particular court or judge applied the rule? How have courts ruled on this type of expertise? Has this expert ever come before a judge?

But keeping up with the case law is no easy task. MDEX Online Inc., a medical-legal consulting firm headquartered in Chicago, estimates there are more than 4000 trial and appellate opinions interpreting and applying Daubert and its offspring, as well as thousands more state “gatekeeper” cases. That is why MDEX developed a tool to help lawyers track these cases and, in particular, find out how specific experts or areas of expertise fared in the courts. The Daubert Tracker, at www.dauberttracker.com, has as its central feature a database of all reported Daubert and Kumho decisions, trial and appellate, backed up when available by full-text briefs, transcripts and docket entries.

It also includes recent cases applying Frye v. United States, the 1928 Supreme Court decision requiring the exclusion of scientific evidence that is unproven or experimental. As of this writing, it was preparing to add all state gatekeeper cases as well as several thousand unreported cases.

The service, launched in August 2002, is composed of five distinct products: a searchable database of all reported cases; core documents – docket sheets, briefs and transcripts for each case; an e-mail update of new cases from the previous week; a quarterly journal with articles by trial attorneys, law professors, judges and experts; and a series of “Web lectures” delivered by authorities on Daubert and scientific evidence.

A year's subscription costs $495 with discounts for multiple users. Or a 2-hour session can be purchased for $25; a half-hour costs $10. The full subscription includes the case law database, the e-mail update and the quarterly journal. Core documents and Web lectures cost extra. Briefs are $20 each for subscribers and $40 for others. Transcripts are $30 for subscribers and $60 for others. Documents and transcripts not in the database can be ordered for $35 to $60. Lectures are $60 to subscribers, $95 to others.

Expert testimony can be the linchpin that makes or breaks a case. But lawyers have had a tougher time getting that testimony admitted since 1993, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals that scientific testimony must be not only relevant, but reliable. In 1999's Kumho Tire v. Carmichael, the Court extended that rule to all experts.

This means that a lawyer preparing to qualify or challenge an expert at trial must answer a number of questions. What is the state of the case law under Daubert? How has the particular court or judge applied the rule? How have courts ruled on this type of expertise? Has this expert ever come before a judge?

But keeping up with the case law is no easy task. MDEX Online Inc., a medical-legal consulting firm headquartered in Chicago, estimates there are more than 4000 trial and appellate opinions interpreting and applying Daubert and its offspring, as well as thousands more state “gatekeeper” cases. That is why MDEX developed a tool to help lawyers track these cases and, in particular, find out how specific experts or areas of expertise fared in the courts. The Daubert Tracker, at www.dauberttracker.com, has as its central feature a database of all reported Daubert and Kumho decisions, trial and appellate, backed up when available by full-text briefs, transcripts and docket entries.

It also includes recent cases applying Frye v. United States, the 1928 Supreme Court decision requiring the exclusion of scientific evidence that is unproven or experimental. As of this writing, it was preparing to add all state gatekeeper cases as well as several thousand unreported cases.

The service, launched in August 2002, is composed of five distinct products: a searchable database of all reported cases; core documents – docket sheets, briefs and transcripts for each case; an e-mail update of new cases from the previous week; a quarterly journal with articles by trial attorneys, law professors, judges and experts; and a series of “Web lectures” delivered by authorities on Daubert and scientific evidence.

A year's subscription costs $495 with discounts for multiple users. Or a 2-hour session can be purchased for $25; a half-hour costs $10. The full subscription includes the case law database, the e-mail update and the quarterly journal. Core documents and Web lectures cost extra. Briefs are $20 each for subscribers and $40 for others. Transcripts are $30 for subscribers and $60 for others. Documents and transcripts not in the database can be ordered for $35 to $60. Lectures are $60 to subscribers, $95 to others.