Wednesday, September 24, 2003

11th Circuit Upholds Exclusion of Testimony re Collusive Pricing

The Eleventh Circuit has upheld summary judgment in class litigation by wholesalers alleging antitrust violations by cigarette companies. In the course of its ruling, the panel affirmed the trial court's partial exclusion of testimony from wholesaler expert Franklin M. Fisher, who would have opined that certain industry practices supported an inference of collusive pricing. According to the Court of Appeals, Fisher's analysis did not permit him or the trier of fact to distinguish between an unlawful price-fixing conspiracy and lawful conscious parallelism. See Williamson Oil Co. v. Philip Morris USA, No. 02-14037 (11th Cir. Sept. 22, 2003) (Marcus, Wilson, & Restani, JJ.).

posted by pn at 1:16 AM  

Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.