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Information contained in pages and articles on this site provides general information and does not provide legal advice on any specific legal matter or factual situation. This information is not intended to create or provide legal advice or a lawyer-client relationship. It is not legal advice.  Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Use of this site does not create an attorney - client relationship, even if you provide information to us by any means including using a contact form on this site. 

EXPERTS MUST VOICE THEIR OPINIONS AS INVOLVING FACTS, NOT LAW

Experts should phrase their opinions as being opinions about the facts of the case, not as being opinions about the law of the case.  If the opinion is merely an opinion about what the law is, it runs the risk of not being admitted.

For example, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held recently that the declarations of two nationally recognized legal ethics experts voicing their opinions on whether a federal district judge must recuse herself from securities fraud litigation in light of undisputed facts about her stock holdings were inadmissible.  Why? Because expert testimony cannot be considered on issues of law.   For more on the case, see Volume 17 Issue 25 December 5, 2001, ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct at p 709.