Opinion ID: 4173746
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Discovery and Expert Testimony

Text: During the course of discovery, Mr. Plants retained Robert H. Davis, Jr., who had previously served as his legal counsel, as an expert witness on the Rules of Professional Conduct. In an evidentiary deposition, Mr. Davis testified that Mr. Plants’s conduct did not violate the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. The ODC filed a pre-hearing motion in limine to preclude the expert testimony. The HPS denied the motion, concluding that “having reviewed the transcript in its entirety, [the HPS] will give said testimony such weight as the Hearing Panel Subcommittee members determine appropriate when making the recommended disposition to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, pursuant to Rule 3.10 of the Rules of Disciplinary Procedure.”