Key takeaways
- FRE 702 sets a low evidentiary floor: knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.
- Many states layer same-specialty and active-practice requirements on top for malpractice cases.
- Juries apply a higher bar than the rules do — current practice and teaching read as credible.
The evidentiary baseline
Rule 702 requires knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education sufficient to render the opinion offered. For physicians this translates to licensure, relevant specialty training, and experience with the condition or procedure at issue. The qualification must fit the opinion: a brilliant cardiologist is unqualified to opine on obstetric care.
State malpractice statutes add more
Most states impose extra requirements in medical negligence cases: same or similar specialty as the defendant, board certification where the defendant is certified, minimum recent clinical practice (often 50%+ of professional time), and in some states an affidavit that the expert reviewed the case in good faith. These statutes are trapdoors, an unqualified affiant can doom a case at the pleading stage.
The credibility bar juries apply
Beyond admissibility, effective experts share practical credentials: active clinical practice, teaching or publications, balanced plaintiff/defense history, clean disciplinary record, and the ability to explain medicine plainly. Retain's verification reviews licensure, certification, and disciplinary history before any match, and surfaces practice and testimony signals so you can judge the credibility bar yourself.
About the author
Sales and Marketing Leader, Retain
Michael has spent more than 25 years leading sales and marketing teams in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and healthcare diagnostics, including 10 product launches and P&L responsibility up to $150M. He writes about how attorneys and physicians actually work together on expert engagements.
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