LCJ Amicus brief in Sommerville v. Union Carbide, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

LCJ’s amicus brief urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to grant a petition by Union Carbide for an en banc rehearing of a decision by a Circuit panel on the application of FRE 702. The Fourth Circuit panel reversed a district court decision that properly excluded a plaintiff’s experts in accordance with amended Federal Rule of Evidence 702. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, in Sommerville v. Union Carbide, properly exercised its gatekeeping function and applied the admissibility standard clarified by amended FRE 702. The brief urges the Fourth Circuit to issue corrective guidance on the proper application of amended FRE 702 for the benefit of judges and litigants. LCJ’s amicus brief was prepared by Mary Massaron and Courtney Lavender, with Plunkett Cooney, and Lee Mickus, with Evans Fears Schuttert McNulty Mickus. Please click here to read the brief.