8th Circuit Upholds CPA's Testimony on Damages in Distributorship Dispute

The Eighth Circuit has upheld the trial court's decision admitting CPA testimony on lost profits in a commercial dispute involving breach of a distributorship agreement. The distributor objected that the CPA's analysis rested on undemonstrated factual assumptions, but the appellate panel dismissed that argument, restating the Eighth Circuit's general rule that the factual bases of an expert's opinion usually go to weight, not admissibility. That rule was all the more applicable, said the panel, given that the CPA's need to make factual assumptions arose largely from the distributor's breach. See Matthew Headley Holdings, LLC v. McCleary, Inc., No. 05-2122 (8th Cir. May 19, 2006) (Colloton, Heaney, & Gruender, JJ.).