United States District Court, D. Arizona
Arturo Contreras, individually; Jose N. Torres, individually, Plaintiffs,
v.
Chester David Brown; Legacy, Inc. and; Roe Business Entities I through X, inclusive, Defendants.
ORDER
James
A. Teilborg Senior United States District Judge
Pending
before the Court is Plaintiffs' Motion to Strike
Defendants' Expert Mary Rossi (Doc. 122). The Court now
rules on the motion.
I.
BACKGROUND
On
February 21, 2019, Plaintiffs filed the pending Motion to
Strike Defendants' Expert Mary Rossi. (Doc. 122).
Defendants subsequently filed a Response (Doc. 124) on March
7, 2019, to which Plaintiffs filed a Reply (Doc. 126) on
March 13, 2019.
A.
Facts
The
Court previously discussed the background facts of this case
at length and need not repeat them here. (See Doc.
137 at 2). Relevant to the pending motion, Plaintiff Torres
incurred significant medical bills from treatment in Arizona
and Nevada following a rear-end collision with Defendant
Brown. (Doc. 122 at 2). Defendants retained Rossi as an
expert to testify in the area of medical billing. (Doc. 124
at 1). Rossi holds a degree in nursing, is a registered nurse
in Wisconsin, and became a certified legal nurse consultant
in 2004. (Doc. 124 at 4-5 (citing Doc. 124-6 at 2); see
also Doc. 124-7 at 5). Rossi previously testified in
multiple venues across the country about the reasonable value
of medical services. (Doc. 124 at 5 (citing Doc. 124-7 at
6)). Rossi is not, nor has she ever been, licensed as a nurse
in Arizona or Nevada. (Doc. 122 at 2; Doc. 124 at 5).
II.
LEGAL STANDARD
A.
Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert
Rule
702 provides that:
A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill,
experience, training, or education may testify in the form of
an opinion or otherwise if:
(a) the expert's scientific, technical, or other
specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to
understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue;
(b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data;
(c) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and
methods; and
(d) the expert has reliably applied the principles and
methods to the ...