Insights & Events

Hollingsworth LLP’s Eric Lasker published an article in Attorney at Law Magazine regarding amendments to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and their potential impact on scientific skepticism in the legal system.

There is a disconnect between the normal scientific process and how science is used in the courtroom. Differences in opinions in the scientific arena encourage experimentation and lead to new scientific discoveries. However, the legal arena requires separate, stringent analysis of expert opinions before they are admitted as relevant evidence for the resolution of disputed claims. On December 1, 2023, the Judicial Conference Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence completed an eight-year review of judicial gatekeeping against unreliable expert testimony with the enactment of a new Rule 702.

The amended rule makes clear the judicial gatekeeping function of the courts, reemphasizing their important mission of keeping unreliable science out of the courtroom.

“In amending Rule 702, the Committee steered the courts back onto the path of sound science. The amended Rule 702 provides courts and proponents of proper scientific methodology and reasoning with a powerful new weapon to keep unreliable science out of the courtroom and protect against the distortions that such evidence can wreak on the proper administration of justice,” said Lasker.

See the full story online at Attorney at Law Magazine.