request to review proposed amendment to pennsylvania’s expert evidence rule submitted by casey coyle

The proposed amendment would amend Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 702 by building on Pennsylvania’s current expert evidence admissibility rule. The amendment would require that a proposed expert’s opinion attain a “reasonable degree of professional certainty,” as recently reaffirmed by the PA Supreme Court. The amendment also requires that the evidence meet a “preponderance” standard in showing cited methodologies are “generally accepted” in the relevant field of study and the opinion is based in “sufficient facts or data.” Read the letter and the proposed amendment here.