The Supreme Court of the United States denied the certiorari petition of Dr. David Egilman in sub. nom. Egilman v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., 133 S. Ct. 1583. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had affirmed the district court’s exclusion of Dr. Egilman’s testimony and grant of summary judgment to Blackwell Burke client ConAgra in one of the nation’s first consumer “popcorn lung” cases. By declining Dr. Egilman’s petition, the Supreme Court leaves in place the Ninth Circuit’s decision that affirmed Blackwell Burke’s district court victory.
Dr. Egilman, an expert witness for the plaintiff in the district court proceedings, filed the petition following the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s dismissal of his appeal of a lower court decision. Dr. Egilman’s counsel, a law professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law of Yeshiva University, argued to the Supreme Court that the district court judge’s 70-page Daubert opinion damaged Dr. Egilman’s ability to make a living. He further argued that the Ninth Circuit had left Dr. Egilman without a remedy for the reputational harm he suffered from the district court’s Daubert decision excluding his testimony. Blackwell Burke attorneys countered that Dr. Egilman, as a non-party, did not have standing to appeal the district court’s order.
By declining Dr. Egilman’s petition, the Supreme Court leaves in place the Ninth Circuit’s decision that affirmed Blackwell Burke’s district court victory. An article further discussing this case entitled, “High Court Snubs 3rd-Party Appeal by ‘Popcorn Lung’ Expert,” is available to Law360 subscribers here.
Blackwell Burke P.A., a litigation and trial boutique in Minneapolis, Minnesota, serves as national trial and litigation counsel for numerous Fortune 500 companies. The firm has extensive experience in class action defense, commercial litigation, food industry defense, labor and employment, products liability, and toxic tort defense. The firm has represented corporate clients in practically every jurisdiction in the country, as well as several foreign countries.
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