Expert Excluded for Offering Legal and State of Mind Opinions in Delaware

BVLaw
Court Case Digests
July 14, 2022
4619 Pipelines, NEC
486990 All Other Pipeline Transportation
breach of fiduciary duty
expert testimony, breach of fiduciary duty, expert report, delaware court of chancery, motion in limine

In re Columbia Pipeline Group
2022 Del. Ch. LEXIS 180
US
State Court
Delaware
Court of Chancery
Guhan Subramanian
Laster

Summary

“In plaintiffs' action against an energy company for aiding and abetting alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by the officers of a pipeline company, the court granted a motion in limine to exclude an expert's report under Del. R. Evid. 702(a) because it expressed a legal opinion on whether the fiduciaries' conduct was reasonable. [Also], [t]he expert report impermissibly expressed opinions about state of mind, which were factual determinations for the court to make. [Finally] [t]he expert offered impermissible opinions about whether the parties believed their agreement was breached, because he interpreted the agreement using extrinsic evidence.”

See Also

In re Columbia Pipeline Group

“In plaintiffs' action against an energy company for aiding and abetting alleged breaches of fiduciary duty by the officers of a pipeline company, the court granted a motion in limine to exclude an expert's report under Del. R. Evid. 702(a) because it expressed a legal opinion on whether the fiduciaries' conduct was reasonable. [Also], [t]he expert report impermissibly expressed opinions about state of mind, which were factual determinations for the court to make. [Finally] [t]he expert offered impermissible opinions about whether the parties believed their agreement was breached, because he interpreted the agreement using extrinsic evidence.”