In his April Illinois Bar Journal article, “Bringing in the Experts,” Cook County Circuit Court Judge James M. Varga takes a basic and practical aim at permitting or barring expert witnesses and admitting or excluding opinion-witness testimony based upon Illinois Rules of Evidence 702-705, Illinois Pattern Jury Instruction—Civil 2.04, and Illinois caselaw.

Judge Varga’s main takeaway: Before a review of standard objections, trial attorneys should address a threshold inquiry into two fundamental requirements for all opinion testimony: whether the opinion is beyond the common knowledge of lay persons and whether the opinion would help jurors as triers of fact. 

Read "Bringing in the Experts" in the April IBJ.