MDL Court Declines to Preclude Late Expert Reports in Asbestos Case

PHILADELPHIA -- The court overseeing the federal asbestos MDL has declined to exclude the expert reports that were admittedly filed late by the plaintiff, concluding that the prejudice to the defendant was not irreversible. Bohannon v. CSX Transportation, No. 09-74483 (E.D. Pa.).

In the Nov. 30 opinion, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania found that the defendant could reassert its challenges to the expert testimony once the experts were deposed.

"I find that Plaintiff's late disclosure was inadvertent and not willful disregard of a Court order," the magistrate judge said.

In a separate order noting …