About 100 attorneys have submitted letters to the Florida Bar Board of Governors, opposing or supporting the Daubert standard. Twenty-seven out of 80 opposition letters are from Morgan & Morgan attorneys. But Mitnick said there is no concerted effort at Morgan & Morgan to lobby on the issue.
Support for the Daubert rule is coming from business groups and defense counsel, including the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.
The Daubert standard replaced a long-standing evidence rule known as the Frye standard. Florida has been one of the only states to modify even the Frye standard to allow any expert testimony under the “pure opinion” rule – meaning testimony could be labeled expert even if based only on someone’s opinion.
“The plaintiff lawyers are only concerned that the Daubert standard will knock out cases that are not based on sound science and methodology,” said William Large, president the Florida Justice Reform Institute.
The Board of Governors is meeting in Jacksonville on Friday. The evidence rule is on their agenda, in terms of making a recommendation to the Florida Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court rejects the Daubert standard, the court could replace it with a range of standards.