Daubert Standard Being Applied To Class Action Certification

Earlier this month, the Third Circuit held that expert testimony critical to class certification needed to satisfy the Daubert reliability standard. This decision is a particularly forceful iteration of what is already a clear trend, say attorneys from Bryan Cave in a client alert. Defendants, they write, “should be prepared to launch Daubert challenges and ensure their own expert witnesses can withstand such challenges.” That is likely to mean more extensive and careful expert discovery than defendants typically undertake in opposing class certification.