Interview with Professor Emeritus Edward J. Imwinkelried

An interview with Professor Emeritus Edward J Imwinkelried appears in the Summer 2016 issue of the ABA's Litigation Journal. Author Martin J. Siegel is with The Law Offices of Martin J. Siegel, Houston, and is editor in chief of Litigation.

Here is an excerpt:

MJS: One of the areas you're closely identified with now is scientific evidence. What drew you to that?

EJI: Every week, the Criminal Law Division at the JAG School had a meeting. At one of the first meetings I attended, someone remarked that scientific evidence was popping up in a growing number of cases. Colonel Overholt decided that "someone" should go to the library and learn enough about the subject to teach a block of instruction. Of course, that "someone" was the newest addition to the division-namely, me. Then, a few months later, Paul Giannelli arrived and became my officemate. Paul was fresh from earning his LLM in forensic science at George Washington. Paul's arrival solidified my interest in the subject. Paul and I have been collaborators and, more importantly, great friends for over 40 years.

MJS: Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals is probably the evidence-related decision best known to civil litigators. Every law student learns it, and every litigator eventually argues it. The Court cited not just one of your writings in Daubert, but two- one being your well-known treatise, Scientific Evidence. Were you involved in the case in any way, or just cited by the Court?

EJI: I worked as a consultant to the plaintiffs in Daubert. One of the primary authors of the brief was Ken Chesebro. Ken had read some of the articles I had written about Rule 402 and the 402-based contention that the Federal Rules of Evidence superseded Frye. Ken asked me to help him write the first part of the brief in which we developed that contention. Working on the brief was a learning experience. The day before we were sending the brief to the printer, in the hour between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., I received several faxes from Cambridge and sent several to Cambridge. As the clock was ticking to five and I had to be out the door to pick up my son from practice, I was dictating to the secretary in Cambridge as the last fax was coming off the machine. When I went home, I told my wife Cindy, "Now I remember why I don't want to be a real, practicing attorney."

Read the full interview at http://www.americanbar.org/publications/litigation_journal/2015-16/summer/interview_professor_edward_j_imwinkelried.html (password required).