The Impact of Daubert on the Admissibility of Scientific Evidence: The Supreme Court Catches up With a Decade of Jurisprudence

Authors

Arvin Maskin, Weil, Gotshal, & Manges

Abstract

Over the past several years a host of new civil damage theories has emerged, notably in the mass tort area. These include claims for increased risk of disease, fear of disease, hedonic damages, immunotoxicity, and medical surveillance. In the great majority of these cases, the dispositive issue reduces to causation, which invariably turns upon scientific evidence. Moreover, the stakes in these cases have greatly escalated. For example, the $180 million settlement in the Agent Orange case seemed like a lot of money in 1984, until several years later when the Dalkon Shield litigation, which involved the sale of a single product over a limited period of time, resulted in a settlement of $2.4 billion. More recently, settlements have been reached in asbestos litigation with a single manufacturer, Fibreboard, to the sum of $3 billion, and in the case against three breast implant manufacturers, for $4.7 billion.

Keywords

Evidence, Jurisprudence, Scientific Evidence, Scientific Research, Legal Practice and Procedure, Testimony

Disciplines

Evidence | Jurisprudence | Law

Recommended Citation

Arvin Maskin, The Impact of Daubert on the Admissibility of Scientific Evidence: The Supreme Court Catches up With a Decade of Jurisprudence, 15 Cardozo L. Rev. 1929 (1994).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/clr/vol15/iss6/7