Monday, September 29, 2003

Unreported 4th Circuit Decisions Involving Dogs Biting Men (part 2)

An earlier post took note of a predictable result reached in an unpublished Fourth Circuit opinion. A reader has responded with a post in the User Forum, noting that although it has a penchant for unpublished dispositions, the Fourth Circuit does not flatly bar their citation. And the reader is correct. Fourth Circuit Rule 36(c) merely emphasizes that the citation of unpublished dispositions is "disfavored."

The reader says he would like to know whether anyone has a hypothesis concerning the Fourth Circuit's especially low publication rate, and how practitioners may be accustomed to coping with it. It is noted that the User Forum permits anonymous postings. ;-)

posted by pn at 4:13 PM  

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.