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SYMPOSIUM ON SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE IN COMPLEX CIVIL LITIGATION

Welcome to the NJC’s Symposium on Scientific Evidence in Complex Civil Litigation. The NJC presented this three-part symposium live in San Diego in April 2010 and simultaneously streamed it live over the Internet. We received numerous requests to make this available in recorded form, and we are delighted to now make the presentations available to you.

The faculty for the symposium is the Honorable Richard D. Aldrich, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal of California, who chaired the California Judicial Council’s Business Court Study Task Force in 1996 and the Complex Litigation Tax Force in 1997; the Honorable Victoria Gerrard Chaney, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal of California, who presided over civil actions at the Los Angeles Superior Court Complex Litigation Division for a decade before elevation to the appellate court; and David L. Faigman, John F. Digardi Distinguished Professor of Law the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and Director of the UCSF/UC Hastings Consortium on Law, Science & Health Policy, who writes extensively on the law’s use of science and constitutional law and lectures regularly to state and federal judges on issues concerning science and the law. Biographies for the faculty are here.

The symposium three modules of varying lengths for a total of three hours. The modules include PowerPoint presentation (the PowerPoint slides are also included in the video presentations); learning objectives; and recommended reading materials. An audio file contains the live presentation of Justice Richard Aldrich and the video files contain the re-recordings of the presentations of Justice Chaney and Professor Faigman.

After you have downloaded the files to your computer, you can open iTunes and add them to your library by selecting the pull down menu "File" from the upper left hand corner of the iTunes window. From the pull down menu "File," select "Add File to Library"

MODULE ONE:

Justice Richard Aldrich gives an introduction and overview of complex litigation courts.

Objectives:

After this session you will be able to discuss the origins and structure of complex litigation courts.

Recorded Presentation: Complex Litigation Courts (approximately 15 minutes long)

Reading Materials:

1. Hon. Richard D. Aldrich, Origins of the California Complex Litigation Courts (April 2010); and
2. Hon. Richard D. Aldrich, Civil Case Cover Sheet, Judicial Council of California (July 2007).

MODULE TWO:

Professor David Faigman analyzes the Daubert trilogy and discusses admissibility issues in forensics and medical causation.

Objectives:

After this session you will be able to:

1. Recognize the limitations and challenges associated with forensic science;
2. Discuss ways courts might respond to forensic evidence, in lights of its inherent limitations;
3. Examine whether the courts should expect more sophisticated methods to be brought to bear to study forensics;
4. Understand the complexity of medical causation and how, in particular, what scientists study does not correspond perfectly to what lawyers and judges need to know;
5. Recognize the many complex issues raised in regard to determining the admissibility of expert evidence on medical causation; and
6. Discuss the general methods of toxicology and epidemiology and how they correspond to the questions the law asks in medical causation cases.

Recorded Presentations:

1. Admissibility Issues in Forensics and Medical Causation (approximately 60 minutes long); and

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2. Medical Evidence: The Challenge of Determining Causation Through Toxicology, Epidemiology and Miscellaneous Other Scientific Methods (approximately 60 minutes long).

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Reading Materials:

1. David Faigman, Scientific Evidence: Admissibility Issues in Forensics and Medical Causation (April 2010)
2. David Faigman – Modern Scientific Evidence, Chapter 1, Admissibility of Scientific Evidence (December 2009);
3. David Faigman – Modern Scientific Evidence, Chapter 21, Clinical Medicine, (December 2009); and
4. David Faigman – Modern Scientific Evidence, Chapter 23, Epidemiology
(December 2009).

MODULE THREE:

Justice Victoria Chaney discusses how to manage scientific evidence in the courtroom.

Objectives:

After this session you will be able to:

1. Discern the best methods to use in dealing with scientific evidence; and
2. Avoid potential pitfalls.

Recorded Presentation: Dealing with Scientific Issues in Complex Cases (approximately 45 minutes long)

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Reading Materials:

1. Victoria Gerrard Chaney, Dealing with Scientific Issues in Complex Cases (March 2010)
2. Victoria Gerrard Chaney, Dealing with Scientific Issues in Complex Cases –
Substantive Outline (March 2010) [NJC Document];
3. Victoria Gerrard Chaney, Hypotheticals.

Upcoming Course

On August 22-25, 2011, the National Judicial College will present its course, Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony, at the NJC campus in Reno. The course features experts from across the country. After attending this course, participants will be able to recognize the judge’s role as a gatekeeper of scientific evidence and expert testimony; consider the consistencies and contradictions between the cultures of law and science; understand basic statistical concepts commonly used by experts; identify the scientific methods available to researchers studying complex human behavior; outline the proper function and qualifications of forensic pathologists; and identify key concepts relating to computer forensic evidence.

This course qualifies for 2 credits toward the Judicial Studies degree and as a requirement for the Certificate in Judicial Development, General Jurisdiction Trial Skills, Special Court Trial Skills and Tribal Judicial Skills programs.

If you would like to register for the Scientific Evidence and Expert Testimony course, and/or apply for a scholarship to attend, follow this link.