Adventures of an Expert Witness. T. M. Dydek, Dydek Environmental Consulting
The intersection between science and the law is an interesting area in which to function as an environmental professional. Engineers and scientists are often called upon by the legal community to provide information in the form of expert witness testimony. The object of scientific testimony is to assist the "trier of fact" (that is, the judge or jury) in reaching their decision in the particular matter under consideration. There have been several recent important court decisions which have had an effect on the admissibility of expert testimony. In an effort to exclude "junk science" from the courtroom, these decisions have changed the legal landscape by establishing more specific criteria for the relevancy and reliability of expert witness testimony. In this paper, I will explain these new rulings and what impact they have had on the way that expert witnesses function in this area. I will also describe three actual toxic tort cases in which I have testified as an expert witness toxicologist. For other expert witnesses and would-be expert witnesses, this paper is intended to be a primer on expert witness testimony. For attorneys and judges, this paper should provide useful information about the litigation support process from the expert’s point of view.
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