Stevenson v. Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp.
United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
39 F.4th 466 (2022)
- Written by Nathan Benedict, JD
Facts
Steve Stevenson (plaintiff) sued Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corp. (Windmoeller) (defendant) for injuries he sustained while using a ladder to clean a Windmoeller printing press. Stevenson argued that the press was defectively designed because the placement of a cable created the risk of a ladder catching on the cable and toppling. Stevenson’s court-appointed counsel asked the court to appoint an engineering expert pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 706, which allows the court to appoint a neutral expert and apportion costs. Stevenson lacked the funds to hire his own expert. Although a local rule allowed parties who could not afford their own experts to ask the court to pay for an expert out of court funds, Stevenson did not use this rule to seek funds for an expert.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Rovner, J.)
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