On July 1, 2021, The California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division Two, declined to publish the court’s recent opinion in Bledsoe v. Monster Beverage Corp., No. E072569. The decision not to publish was a disappointment for WLF, which explained in a letter that the opinion provides much-needed guidance on an issue on which no on-point California authority exists: a trial court’s discretion to bifurcate issues of liability and causation by trying causation first. It also reaffirms the trial court’s “gatekeeper” role when reviewing scientific expert evidence on causation in a products liability case. Unfortunately, the court’s refusal to publish ensures that Bledsoe’s discussion of both these important legal issues will lack any precedential authority.
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