Commercial Litigation and Arbitration

“An Expert May Not Merely Recite Another Expert’s Opinion as His Own” (Good Quote)

Member Servs. v. Sec. Mut. Life Ins. Co., 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 103776 (N.D.N.Y Sept. 30, 2010):

Finally, those portions of Mr. Cosgrove's report that address technical matters simply repeat Mr. Elliott's opinions and are not based on any personal or independent analysis by Mr. Cosgrove. In  this regard, Mr. Cosgrove addressed the structure and operation of the parties' respective computer programs. However, Mr. Cosgrove testified at his deposition that he did not view the parties' source codes for their respective computer programs, and the only "evidence" he considered in this regard is the report provided by Mr. Elliott. Ex. G, Cosgrove Tr. at 12, 13, 15, 36.

While an expert may rely upon another expert to form an opinion under Rule 703, an expert may not merely recite another expert's opinion as his own. In re Fosamax Products Liability Litigation, 645 F. Supp. 2d 164, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64661, *61 (S.D.N.Y. 2009).
 

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