Toward a More Apparent Approach to Considering the Admission of Expert Testimony

Authors

Thomas D. Schroeder, Chief United States District Judge, Middle District of North Carolina; Member, United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence; Chair of Subcommittee on Rule 702; Senior Lecturer, Duke University School of Law; Member, American Law Institute

Abstract

This Article highlights lingering confusion in the caselaw as to the proper standard for the trial court’s discharge of its gatekeeping role for the admission of expert testimony. The Article urges correction of the faulty application of Daubert’s admonition as to “shaky but admissible” evidence as a substitute for proper discharge of the trial court’s gatekeeper function under Rule 104(a). The Article concludes with several suggestions for trial and appellate courts to consider for better decisionmaking in discharging their duty to apply Rule 104(a)’s preponderance standard to the elements of Rule 702.

Recommended Citation

Thomas D. Schroeder, Toward a More Apparent Approach to Considering the Admission of Expert Testimony, 95 Notre Dame L. Rev. 2039 (2020).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndlr/vol95/iss5/7