No. 25-919

Union Carbide Corporation, et al. v. Lee Ann Sommerville

Lower Court: Fourth Circuit
Docketed: 2026-02-04
Status: Pending
Type: Paid
Experienced Counsel
Tags: admissibility burden-of-proof evidentiary-standard expert-witness federal-rules-of-evidence judicial-circuit-split
Key Terms:
Environmental Patent Privacy JusticiabilityDoctri ClassAction
Latest Conference: N/A
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Whether, under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, challenges to the factual basis of an expert witness's testimony always go to the weight of the evidence rather than to admissibility, or whether such challenges go to weight only if a court first finds it more likely than not that an expert has a sufficient basis to support the testimony

Question Presented (from Petition)

Whether , under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 , challenges to the factual basis of an expert witness’s testimony always go to the weight of the evidence rather than to admissibility, as the First and Fourth Circuits hold, or whether such challenges go to weight only if a court first finds it more likely than not that an expert has a sufficient basis to support the testimony , as the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Federal Circuits hold.

Docket Entries

2026-02-02
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 6, 2026)

Attorneys

Lee Ann Sommerville
Joshua Michael AutryMorgan & Morgan, Respondent
Joshua Michael AutryMorgan & Morgan, Respondent
Stephen Bradley EdwardsMorgan & Morgan, Respondent
Stephen Bradley EdwardsMorgan & Morgan, Respondent
Union Carbide Corporation & Covestro LLC
Donald B. Verrilli Jr.Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Petitioner
Donald B. Verrilli Jr.Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Petitioner