Legal Perspectives & Admissibility of Expert Testimony

A comprehensive set of flashcards focused on legal principles, standards for expert testimony, and related concepts pertinent to admissibility and the role of judges and attorneys in the legal process.

Expert Testimony

Testimony provided by someone with specialized knowledge to assist the jury or judge in understanding evidence or issues relevant to a case.

Gatekeeper

The role of the judge in determining the admissibility of evidence, including expert testimony, based on relevance and reliability.

Frye Standard

The legal standard that requires scientific evidence to be generally accepted in its relevant scientific community for admissibility.

Daubert Standard

A legal standard that expands criteria for admissibility of expert testimony beyond general acceptance to include testability, known error rates, and peer review.

Falsifiability

A criterion that a scientific theory must be able to be disproven through contradictory observable findings.

General Acceptance Test

A metric for admissibility which states that scientific evidence must be widely accepted in the scientific community to be admissible.

Known Error Rate

The frequency with which a scientific method produces inaccurate results, which must be disclosed to jurors where applicable.

Peer Review

The evaluation of scientific research by experts in the same field prior to publication, used as a criteria for admissibility of evidence.

Abuse of Discretion Standard

A legal standard used by appellate courts to review a trial judge's decision on admissibility, assessing whether the judge made an unreasonable choice.

Clinical Expectations

Standards for evaluating expert testimony that differ from general scientific testimony, focusing on factors like clinician examination and recognized clinical practices.

Adversarial Allegiance

The concern that experts may be biased due to their alignment with party interests in a legal case.

Testability

The ability of a scientific hypothesis to be tested and potentially disproven through evidence.

Expert Bias

The tendency of expert witnesses to present information that favors the party that hired them, raising concerns about objectivity.

Admissibility of Evidence

The legal criteria that determine whether evidence can be considered by the judge or jury during a trial.

Legal Relevance

The requirement that expert evidence must be related to the facts at issue in the case.

Independent and Impartial Expert

An expert who provides unbiased testimony and does not have conflicts of interest that could influence their opinions.