Opinion ID: 172194
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Adequacy of Expert Report

Text: Mrs. Neiberger's motion in limine to limit Dr. Weingarten's testimony was construed by the district court as being based not only on Rule 702 but also on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(c), which authorizes sanctions for failure to comply with the disclosure requirements of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2). Without explicitly ruling whether Dr. Weingarten's report complied with Rule 26(a)(2), the district court decided to impose no sanctions. Mrs. Neiberger challenges that decision. We reject the challenge. Rule 26(a)(2)(B) states that the disclosure of an expert witness must be accompanied by a written reportprepared and signed by the witness. [2] Among other things, the report must contain a complete statement of all opinions the witness will express and the basis and reasons for them and the data or other information considered by the witness in forming them. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(a)(2)(B)(i), (ii). This provision imposes a duty to disclose information regarding expert testimony sufficiently in advance of trial that opposing parties have a reasonable opportunity to prepare for effective cross examination and perhaps arrange for expert testimony from other witnesses. Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 advisory committee's note ¶ 2 (1993 amend.). Violation of this duty subjects a party to sanctions under Rule 37(c)(1), which states: If a party fails to provide information or identify a witness as required by Rule 26(a) ..., the party is not allowed to use that information or witness to supply evidence ... at a trial, unless the failure was substantially justified or is harmless. In addition to or instead of this sanction, the court, on motion and after giving an opportunity to be heard: (A) may order payment of the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, caused by the failure; (B) may inform the jury of the party's failure; and (C) may impose other appropriate sanctions.... Because [t]he determination of whether a Rule 26(a) violation is justified or harmless is entrusted to the broad discretion of the district court, Woodworker's Supply, Inc. v. Principal Mut. Life Ins. Co., 170 F.3d 985, 993 (10th Cir.1999) (internal quotation marks omitted), we review for abuse of discretion the district court's decision not to impose a Rule 37(c)(1) sanction, see Doctor John's v. Wahlen, 542 F.3d 787, 790 (10th Cir.2008). There was no abuse of discretion here. Mrs. Neiberger has failed to show how she was prejudiced by any deficiency in the Rule 26 report prepared by Dr. Weingarten. As described above, the opinions expressed in Dr. Weingarten's report were the same as those to which he testified in his deposition introduced at trial. The report opined that smoking raises the risk of nonunion, that there was no radiographic evidence that the collision had loosened or displaced any hardware, that it was thus unlikely that the collision caused a fracture, and that Mrs. Neiberger's smoking was likely the cause of the nonunion. Mrs. Neiberger's complaint is that the report did not disclose the bases and data for these conclusions. But the only conclusion that she specifically points to as being unsupported is Dr. Weingarten's linking of smoking to nonunion. In our discussion of her Rule 702 challenge we have already resolved that she has failed to identify any lack of support for his trial testimony on that issue. This leaves only the possibility that the trial testimony included support that was missing from his report. As far as we can tell, however, the only predicate for Dr. Weingarten's trial testimony that is absent from the report is the peer-reviewed literature saying that smoking can cause nonunions (and the resulting position statement of the AAOS). That absence did not prejudice Mrs. Neiberger. Her own expert, Dr. Odom, acknowledged the proposition that smoking increases the risk of nonunions. Indeed, even before this suit was filed, he had repeatedly warned Mrs. Neiberger of the risk. Moreover, medical literature on the subject was presented at Dr. Odom's deposition long before trial. There is a theoretical possibility that the lack of disclosure in Dr. Weingarten's report could have prejudiced Mrs. Neiberger in taking his discovery deposition or in formulating her strategy on calling experts. But Mrs. Neiberger does not argue that point and, given the noncontroversial nature of the link between smoking and nonunion, we see no chance of such prejudice having arisen. [3] As we understand the district court, it ruled that if there was any shortcoming in Dr. Weingarten's report, it did not prejudice Mrs. Neiberger's ability to prepare for trial. We affirm that ruling.