Saturday, March 27, 2004

"Daubert on the Web" Dips Toes into State Law; Texans Dance in Streets

To date, this weblog's parent site, Daubert on the Web, has focused exclusively on federal appellate decisions. Users have sometimes written to ask why state law decisions are not also collected there. The answer is simple: One lawyer, by himself, can keep track of only so much. To do the states, there would have to be helpers.

But now there are some -- or at least one, in the person of Texas attorney Jim Dedman, who has graciously agreed to monitor appellate decisions in Texas and pass them along, in return for a princely monthly stipend of zero dollars and zero cents. Our sincere thanks to Mr. Dedman, whose help has already enhanced the site and, we hope, its usefulness to our visitors. (Go take a peek.)

Meanwhile, if you're an attorney who would like to help with building a page for your own state, please write to us and let us know. Because you know something? If we have our way, then not only are we going to Texas, we’re going to South Carolina, and Oklahoma, and Arizona, and North Dakota, and New Mexico . . . .
Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.