Expert reports are common in scientifically complex cases. Every
practitioner, regardless of experience level, must read an
expert's report carefully before production. A recent opinion
from the Fifth Circuit serves as a cautionary tale against using
sloppy expert reports that are fatal to a party's claim or
defense, in this case, the plaintiff.
In Williams v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., et
al,1 the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently affirmed a district
court's exclusion of expert testimony and the subsequent grant
of summary judgment in favor of defendants. The plaintiff, Matthew
Williams, sued for bodily injuries sustained when he performed oil
spill clean-up work in the Gulf of Mexico after the British
Petroleum Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. A decade later, in
2020, Williams was diagnosed with chronic pansinusitis, a long-term
inflammation of the nasal sinuses and linings of the nasal
passages. Williams alleged that his
