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Former Government Employees as Opposing Expert Witnesses

It is increasingly common in product liability cases for a plaintiff to disclose as an expert a former employee of a government agency such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") or the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA"). These witnesses frequently advertise themselves as experts in "product/drug safety" and refer to their regulatory background as their primary qualification. Frequently, however, these witnesses' responsibilities as government employees had little, if anything, to do with the subjects about which they are now testifying. Nevertheless, these witnesses are dangerous if allowed to testify to a jury, because they lend the credibility of the U.S. government to the plaintiff's case.

30 minute read July 30, 2004 at 09:21 AM
By
James H. Rotondo
Former Government Employees as Opposing Expert Witnesses

It is increasingly common in product liability cases for a plaintiff to disclose as an expert a former employee of a government agency such as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) or the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).

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