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Rule 195.5. Expert Disclosure and Reports (2021)

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(a) Disclosures. Without awaiting a discovery request, a party must provide the following for any testifying expert:

(1) the expert's name, address, and telephone number;

(2) the subject matter on which the expert will testify;

(3) the general substance of the expert's mental impressions and opinions and a brief summary of the basis for them, or if the expert is not retained by, employed by, or otherwise subject to the control of the responding party, documents reflecting such information;

(4) if the expert is retained by, employed by, or otherwise subject to the control of the responding party:

(A) all documents, tangible things, reports, models, or data compilations that have been provided to, reviewed by, or prepared by or for the expert in anticipation of the expert's testimony;

(B) the expert's current resume and bibliography;

(C) the expert's qualifications, including a list of all publications authored in the previous 10 years;

(D) except when the expert is the responding party's attorney and is testifying to attorney fees, a list of all other cases in which, during the previous four years, the expert testified as an expert at trial or by deposition; and

(E) a statement of the compensation to be paid for the expert's study and testimony in the case.

(b) Expert Reports. If the discoverable factual observations, tests, supporting data, calculations, photographs, or opinions of an expert have not been recorded and reduced to tangible form, the court may order these matters reduced to tangible form and produced in addition to the deposition.

(c) Expert Communications Protected. Communications between the party's attorney and any testifying expert witness in the case are protected from discovery, regardless of the form of the communications, except to the extent that the communications:

(1) relate to compensation for the expert's study or testimony;

(2) identify facts or data that the party's attorney provided and that the expert considered in forming the opinions to be expressed; or

(3) identify assumptions that the party's attorney provided and that the expert relied on in forming the opinions to be expressed.

(d) Draft Expert Reports and Disclosures Protected. A draft expert report or draft disclosure required under this rule is protected from discovery, regardless of the form in which the draft is recorded.

Amended by order of Dec. 23, 2020, eff. Jan. 1, 2021.

Notes and Comments

Comments to 2020 change:

Rule 195 is amended to reflect changes to Rule 194. Amended Rule 195.5(a) lists the disclosures for any testifying expert, which are now required without awaiting a discovery request, that were formerly listed in Rule 194(f). Amended Rule 195.5(a) also includes three new disclosures based on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(B). New Rules 195.5(b) and (c) are based on Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26(b)(4)(B) and (C) and are added to clarify protections available.