Opinion ID: 202396
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Late Disclosure of Expert Testimony

Text: 19 The Beaudettes next challenge the district court's refusal to accept the late disclosure of Dobson as an expert on the inadequacy of the warning labels attached to the ladder. To support this claim, the Beaudettes cite two cases. The first is not relevant. Licciardi v. TIG Ins. Group, 140 F.3d 357, 363 (1st Cir.1998) (noting that Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(e) requires a party to inform another party of a material change in or addition to information contained in an expert's pre-trial report). The second, Ferrara & DiMercurio v. St. Paul Mercury Ins. Co., is relevant, but the Beaudettes incorrectly state the crucial facts. 240 F.3d 1 (1st Cir.2001). In Ferrara, we approved the late disclosure of an expert witness where it occurred three months prior to trial and a previously disclosed expert had died prior to the trial. Id. at 8, 9-10. The Beaudettes incorrectly state that in Ferrara we approved the late disclosure of an expert two weeks prior to trial. 2 Moreover, at the time of the Beaudettes' late disclosure, trial was scheduled for only five weeks away. Given the short time until the scheduled trial date, we find that the district court did not abuse its discretion by refusing to accept the plaintiffs' late designation.