Bruce Liebman, Florida Co-Managing Partner of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck in Fort Lauderdale, left, and Kevin Yombor, attorney with the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office, right.
On May 23, the Florida Supreme Court, bucking decades of jurisprudence, announced that Florida courts would utilize the Daubert standard when evaluating the admissibility of expert testimony. With this ruling, Florida joins the majority of states and the federal judiciary in utilizing the Daubert standard. The Daubert standard allows the court to function as a “gate keeper,” determining whether the proffered expert is qualified to provide expert testimony.
This likely brings to rest nearly six years of confusion as to what expert evidentiary standard would apply in Florida. In deciding In re Amendments to Florida Evidence Code, Case No. SC19-107 (Fla 2019), the Florida Supreme Court abandoned its decisions in DeLisle v. Crane, 258 So. 3d 1221(Fla. 2018) and In re Amendments to Florida Evidence Code, 210 So. 3d 1231 (Fla. 2017), upholding the Frye standard.
