(Brennan Linsley / AP)
An attorney was one of several people proffered as an expert in a case. All of them based opinions on their interpretation of the law and on their interpretation of an insurance policy or policies.
The federal judge presiding over the case ruled that interpretation of the law and interpretation of insurance policies was up to the court, not expert witnesses. The proffered opinion testimony of all the experts was excluded in Hansen Construction Inc. v. Everest National Insurance Co., No. 16-cv-02902-CMA-GPG, 2019 WL 2602510, at *4-*5 (D. Colo. June 25, 2019).
In his opinion, the judge also set out other drawbacks in relation to the testimony of one of the proffered experts in particular, but they concern that particular witness among the group of proffered expert witnesses addressed in the court's opinion.
The important point here is that interpretation of statutes and of insurance policies belongs to the judge. Any other person's interpretation is an argument, not testimony.
On Monday of this week, another federal judge reached the same conclusion and excluded proffered expert opinion testimony based on interpretations of the law. Ellis v. Hobbs Police Dep't, No. 2:17-cv-01011 KWR/GBW, 2020 WL 3961079, at*3-*4 (D.N.M. July 13, 2020). That case involved claims of alleged racial discrimination by a police department and retaliation for opposition to it. The proffered witness in that case may not have been an attorney, parenthetically. The court in that case described the witness only as "an expert in police procedures and practices." Ellis, 2020 WL 3961079, at *1.
The admissibility of expert testimony in third-party insurance bad faith cases including the Hansen Construction case is discussed in § 8:17, in 1 Dennis J. Wall, Litigation and Prevention of Insurer Bad Faith (3d Edition Thomson Reuters West and 2020 Supplements). The admissibility of expert testimony in first-party insurance bad faith cases is addressed in § 12:18, in Volume 2, id.
Please read the disclaimer. ©2020 Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved.
Comments