Susan Haack, a professor of law, humanities and philosophy at the University of Miami, will deliver the I. Goodman Cohen Lecture in Trial Advocacy on Wednesday, Oct. 7, at Wayne State University Law School.
Her presentation is titled "Mind the Analytical Gap! Tracing a Fault Line in Daubert."
Haack's lecture will shed light on an irony of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals (1993): that, although this ruling makes it clear that the old Frye Rule is superseded by a new evidentiary régime more hospitable to the admission of expert testimony, it actually makes it more difficult to get this kind of testimony admitted in civil cases. Haack argues that one explanation for this is the mismatch between the categorical concept of admissibility and the gradational character of Daubert's key concepts of relevance and reliability, which presents judges with a problem about the degree of relevance and reliability to require.
A reception preceding Haack's talk begins at 5:30 p.m., with the lecture at 6:30 p.m. in the Spencer M. Partrich Auditorium at the law school, 471 W. Palmer St. The event is free and open to the public. Parking is available for $7 (credit and debit cards only) in Structure One across West Palmer Street from the law school.
A separate lunchtime presentation the same day is planned for Wayne Law students.
Haack earned bachelor of arts, bachelor of philosophy and master of arts degrees from Oxford University and doctorate of philosophy from the University of Cambridge.
She has written numerous books and published about 200 articles in a wide range of philosophical, legal, literary, scientific and general-interest journals worldwide. She is a frequent lecturer both in the United States and abroad and has won numerous awards for her work.
Haack was included in Peter J. King's One Hundred Philosophers: The Life and Work of the World's Greatest Thinkers and in the Sunday Independent's list, based on a BBC poll, of the 10 most important women philosophers of all time.
The I. Goodman Cohen Lecture Series was established by the family of the late I. Goodman Cohen, a prominent trial lawyer in Michigan who was active in the Michigan Trial Lawyers Association, known today as the Michigan Association for justice.
Published: Tue, Sep 22, 2015
