EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY
What is an expert witness? An expert witness is one allowed to provide opinion testimony at trial based upon his or her specialized knowledge, training or experience, if the opinion is reliable, relevant to the issues in the case, and will help the fact finder to reach a decision. An expert witness need not have percipient knowledge of the facts of the case. In courts, experts and their opinions must meet admissibility standards of Rule and its country laws analogs that serve to define the opinion witness.
Testimony by Experts
If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.
Basic requirements of Testimony by Experts
The requirements of FRE 702 can be divided into four parts: • qualifications; • reliability; • helpfulness; and
• Qualifications;
• Reliability;
• Helpfulness; and
• Foundation.
The proposed expert witness must be sufficiently qualified by formal training and education or by practical experience to testify on the particular matters at issue. The opinion must be reliable according to the standards of the expert’s field. The opinion must be “helpful” to the fact finder—i.e., the opinion must address matters relevant to the dispute that require expertise beyond the ken of ordinary lay jurors or the court. Finally, the opinion must be grounded on the type of data and information customarily relied upon by other experts in the particular field.
