New Jersey Judges Must Follow 'Daubert' Standards

Introduction

The State's Highest Court decided that New Jersey judges must follow "Daubert" standards instead of federal standards for expert witness testimony. This decision will apply while determining the authenticity of the opinions for juries to consider. The ruling issued on August 1, was the result of an ongoing Accutane litigation over claims that the acne drug leads to increased chances of Crohn's disease and inflammatory bowel disease.

The ruling backs the dismissal of the plaintiffs' expert witnesses, which closed the litigation many years ago. The dismissal verdict was reversed in July 2017, when a New Jersey appeals court discovered that the judge exceeded his authority by barring the witness testimony. However, the state supreme court ruling contradicts the appeals court's decision. The Daubert hearing ruling will affect a number of other lawsuits filed in New Jersey like Talcum, IVC Filter, and others.

In her opinion statement, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia told, “we perceive the little distinction between Daubert’s principles regarding expert testimony and our own, and believe that its factors for assessing the reliability of expert testimony will aid our trial courts in their role as the gatekeeper of scientific expert testimony in civil cases. In this matter, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in its evidential ruling and, therefore, the Appellate Division erred in reversing the trial court’s exclusion of the testimony of plaintiffs’ experts.”

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