Kumho Tire Extension
Definition
The 1999 US Supreme Court decision that applied the Daubert gatekeeping obligation to all expert testimony, not only scientific testimony. After Kumho, engineering opinions require the same judicial reliability assessment as medical or chemical opinions.
- Case
- Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael
- Year
- 1999
- Court
- US Supreme Court
- Effect
- Extends Daubert gatekeeping to all expert testimony
Common questions
What kind of expert testimony was at issue in the Kumho Tire case?+
An engineer's opinion on tire failure, which the trial court had to decide whether to admit; the Supreme Court used it to settle whether Daubert applied beyond hard-science experts.
How did courts treat non-scientific expert testimony before Kumho?+
Some circuits applied the looser Frye general-acceptance standard or no formal reliability test at all to technical and other specialized testimony, so engineering and similar opinions faced less consistent scrutiny than laboratory science.
Related terms
- Daubert Standard
- The US federal evidentiary standard (Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, 1993) requiring that expert testimony be based on scientifically valid methods with...
- FRE 702
- Federal Rule of Evidence 702, the US statutory basis for expert testimony admissibility. Amended in 2000 and again in 2023 to reflect...
- Frye Standard
- The US legal test for admissibility of scientific evidence, originating from Frye v. United States (1923), which required that a technique be...
- Gatekeeping
- The judicial function, codified in the United States by Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993) and Federal Rule of Evidence 702, of...
- Makita Standard
- The Australian admissibility standard from Makita (Australia) v. Sprowles (2001): the expert must identify the facts and assumptions underlying the opinion, the...