Sacramento Bus Accident Victim Battles Trial Experts

(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this bus accident/personal injury case and its proceedings.)

Plaintiff’s Opposition to Motion in Limine Re Limiting Expert Testimony

Plaintiff MOLLY CHANCE hereby opposes defendant’s motion for an order limiting plaintiff’s expert’s testimony to opinions set forth in expert designations and their depositions.

INTRODUCTION

Defendants filed a Kennemur motion to limit the testimony of experts at trial. Kennemur motions are both widely used and abused. They should not be permitted to excuse an attorney from taking an incomplete deposition. Additionally, a strict limit on testimony arguably beyond the scope of a expert designation is not appropriate when the expert was asked questions on certain subjects and the deposing party had every opportunity, and in fact does provide testimony in response to the expert’s opinions.

ARGUMENT

Defendants’ reliance on Kennemur v. State of California, 133 Cal.App.3d 907 (1983) is misplaced. Even a cursory review reveals the case to be inapposite.

In Kennemur, the plaintiffs expert, Dr. Mitchell, was deposed on three separate occasions over a six-day period by the defendant. The witness was specifically asked whether he was going to testify on accident reconstruction. He specifically stated that he was not and would leave that to a different expert. He said that he was limiting his testimony to the stability of the automobile involved in the accident. (Id. at 912.) At the second session of his deposition, he was again asked a similar question and gave a similar answer. In the third session of his deposition, he was asked if he had done any further investigation as to the accident reconstruction and he specifically stated that he had not.

At the second session of his deposition, he was again asked a similar question and gave a similar answer. In the third session of his deposition, he was asked if he had done any further investigation as to the accident reconstruction and he specifically stated that he had not. (See Part 2 of 2.)

For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.