Opinion ID: 1458041
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Timeliness of Expert Disclosure for Rebuttal Purposes

Text: The district court also did not err in declining to admit Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony as rebuttal evidence. Wegener contends that Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was admissible to rebut Johnson's experts' assertion that Wegener's hospital records as a whole indicate that no gallstones were present in Wegener's gallbladder. Wegener also argues, more specifically, that the supplemental testimony was admissible to rebut the supplemental report of Johnson's expert Dr. West, which was disclosed on September 6, 2006. We disagree, for Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was untimely disclosed and was not offered in true rebuttal. The district court's progression order of January 24, 2005, set forth the deadlines for, inter alia, depositions and the disclosure of initial and rebuttal expert witness reports. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 16(b)(3)(B)(i), 26(a)(2)(C) (district court may set time limits for disclosure of initial and rebuttal expert witness testimony). Although the district court changed the dates for the initial expert witness reports and depositions on Wegener's motion and the trial was rescheduled four times, the January 24, 2005, order set the deadline for rebuttal expert reports to be fifteen (15) days prior to the date set for the completion of depositions. Final Progression Order at 2 (original emphasis omitted). The final deposition deadline set by order of the district court was September 1, 2006. Therefore, Wegener's September 15, 2006, disclosure of Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was untimely as a rebuttal expert disclosure. Wegener's argument that Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony rebuts the supplemental report of Johnson's expert Dr. West does not excuse its untimeliness. Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony did not rebut any new information disclosed in Dr. West's supplemental report. Dr. West stated in both his initial and supplemental reports that neither Wegener's medical records as a whole nor the Columbus hospital ultrasounds provided evidence of gallbladder disease. Wegener argues that Dr. West's initial opinion relied exclusively on the radiologist's report interpreting the ultrasound and that because Johnson's counsel had subpoenaed Wegener's ultrasound records in the time between Dr. West's initial report and his supplemental report, the opinion contained in his supplemental report was based on the ultrasound film itself and was, therefore, new. Our review of the record does not reveal that Dr. West's supplemental report was, in fact, based on the ultrasound films. The supplemental report does not list the films in the documents reviewed, nor does the report specifically refer to them at any point. As a basis for comparison, the list of documents reviewed does include microscopic slides of Wegener's gallbladder, Dr. West's independent reading of which is discussed in his report. Furthermore, Dr. West testified at trial that his opinion was not based on the ultrasound films, but on the radiologists' reports. We therefore conclude that Wegener's disclosure of Dr. Halbridge's supplemental testimony was untimely and that it was not offered solely to rebut any new information contained in Johnson's supplemental disclosures.