When Carlson offered his opinion, he didn't suggest that tire scientists, at least in a general way, agreed with his opinion or the way he reached it. Although the justices told trial judges to be flexible, the Carmichael case is going to make it harder for plaintiffs. In areas such as product liability, that will help businesses. Nevertheless, in many other areas such as construction litigation, expertise may be hard to come by. In construction cases, companies fight over the last screw, board and pipe, often in a big project.
Experts are often architects and engineers.
These are people who, much like Carlson, know how things are done. Still, they can't point to published research widely accepted in their professions. If they can't, their opinions aren't admissible in federal courts. New Mexico, like most other states, adopted the Federal Rules of Evidence for its courts. The states don't have to follow federal decisions.