H AND L FARMS LLC v. SILICON RANCH CORPORATION

District Court, M.D. Georgia·Decided February 7, 2023·No. 4:21-cv-00134·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA COLUMBUS DIVISION

H&L FARMS LLC, SHAUN HARRIS, and * AMIE HARRIS, * Plaintiffs, * vs. CASE NO. 4:21-CV-134 (CDL) * SILICON RANCH CORPORATION, et al., * Defendants. *

O R D E R This order memorializes the rulings the Court made at the pretrial conference and rules on remaining motions in limine that are pending before the Court. In this Order, “IEA” means Infrastructure and Energy Alternatives, Inc. and IEA Constructors, LLC, and “SRC” means Silicon Ranch Corporation and SR Lumpkin, LLC. I. IEA’s Daubert Motion to Exclude Lee Walters (ECF No. 120). The Court conducted a Daubert hearing regarding the qualifications and methodology of Lee Walters, and the Court reviewed the supplemental briefing. The Court finds that Walters is well qualified to offer opinions about impacts of the erosion to the marketability of Plaintiffs’ property and why an appraisal may not adequately consider intangible measures of value. But the Court finds that Walters did not establish that he used a reliable methodology for determining the post-erosion fair market value of the property. His methodology seemed to be that based on a gut feeling that the lake on Plaintiffs’ property represents one-third of the value of the entire property. Although this “gut feeling” was based on his extensive experience and may certainly be accurate depending on

the particular emotional attachment of certain buyers to the lake, this is not the type of reliability required by Rule 702 and Daubert. Accordingly, IEA’s motion to exclude Walters is GRANTED to the extent that Walters shall not be permitted to offer an opinion on the amount of diminution in value caused by Defendants’ conduct. The motion is DENIED to the extent that Walters may still testify about the marketability of the property considering the damage to the lake. II. IEA/SRC’s Daubert Motion to Exclude Vance Smith (ECF No. 155). For the reasons explained during the pretrial conference, the motion to exclude Vance Smith is DENIED. III. Westwood’s Motion to Exclude Long Engineering Witnesses (ECF No. 166). For the reasons explained during the pretrial conference, the motion to exclude the Long Engineering witnesses is GRANTED. IV. Westwood’s Motion to Exclude Undisclosed IEA Employee Witnesses (ECF No. 168). For the reasons explained during the pretrial conference, the motion to exclude the Long Engineering witnesses is GRANTED. V. Westwood’s Motions to Exclude Erin Harris and Tony Greco (ECF Nos. 172 & 173) The motion to exclude these witnesses is GRANTED to the extent that Harris and Greco shall not be permitted to offer opinions on the standard of care applicable to professional engineers. That is the focus of Westwood’s motions—that Harris and Greco are not qualified to opine as to the standard of care for a professional engineer on a professional negligence claim, and the Court agrees that they are not. To the extent that Westwood seeks to exclude other opinions from Harris and Greco, that motion is DEFERRED. Harris and Greco are qualified to offer opinions on matters within their

expertise as wetland scientists and erosion sediment control professionals. The question remains, however, as to whether that testimony is relevant. Since Plaintiffs’ only surviving claim against Westwood is for professional engineering negligence, it appears that this non-engineering expert testimony would only be relevant as it relates to apportionment of fault under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. While “fault” under this statute does not necessarily mean liability, it seems that for apportionment to apply here Plaintiffs would at a minimum need to have a theoretically cognizable claim against Westwood, even if it has not been asserted. So if Plaintiffs here would not have a recognized cause of action against Westwood for design negligence that can be proven without professional engineer- based expert testimony, it appears that the only basis for apportioning fault would be to establish that Westwood committed professional engineering negligence. And if that is the case, the Court is confused as to how the testimony of these experts,

who are not qualified to give such testimony, is relevant. But if Plaintiffs would have a cognizable claim against Westwood for design negligence that does not require a showing of professional engineer negligence, then perhaps a jury could find Westwood to be at fault for apportionment purposes even without finding it responsible based on professional engineering negligence. Given the novelty of this issue and the confusion created by the previous briefing, the Court directs any party who has a dog in this fight to file a supplemental brief no longer than ten pages at least two weeks prior to trial addressing this specific narrow issue. VI. Westwood’s Motion in Limine (ECF No. 174) Westwood’s motion in limine has twelve parts.

1. “Mention of Insurance Carriers” The motion is GRANTED to the extent that evidence of insurance cannot be used to prove wrongful conduct. Fed. R. Evid. 411. But such evidence is admissible if it is used for another purpose, “such as proving a witness’s bias or prejudice or proving agency, ownership, or control.” Id. To the extent the motion seeks to exclude evidence of liability insurance for a purpose permitted under Rule 411, it is DENIED. 2. “Arguments by Counsel as to Personal Beliefs of a Witness’s Credibility.” This motion is GRANTED to the extent that counsel cannot vouch for a witness’s credibility. 3. “Demonstrative Evidence Should Not Go to Jury Room.” This motion is GRANTED to the extent that only exhibits that are admitted as evidence shall go to the jury room. 4. “Use of the ‘Golden Rule.’ This motion is GRANTED to the extent that the lawyers should not ask the jury to place themselves in a party’s position. 5. “Ordinary or simple negligence claims against Westwood.” The Court previously granted this motion in light of the Court’s summary judgment ruling. See Order 2 (Jan. 26, 2023), ECF No. 196. 6. “Expert opinions that were not disclosed in discovery.” Westwood did not seek to exclude a specific expert opinion, so the Court cannot determine whether evidence should be excluded or not based on the present record. If a witness tries to offer a new expert opinion that was never disclosed, Westwood should object. This motion is DEFERRED. 7. “Documents not produced in discovery.” This motion focuses on certain documents generated by Long Engineering. This motion is GRANTED to the extent that Long Engineering’s documents that were not disclosed during discovery shall not be permitted; at the pretrial conference, the Court excluded the late-disclosed expert opinions of Long Engineering. 8. “Other malpractice actions against Westwood.”

Westwood contends that evidence of other malpractice actions against it should be excluded under Federal Rules of Evidence 401 and 404. SRC and IEA summarily argue that the conduct at issue in other malpractice actions is substantially similar to Westwood’s conduct here and that the other actions prove a course of conduct of drafting flawed engineering plans. SRC and IEA did not argue that other malpractice actions against Westwood are admissible for a purpose permitted under Rule 404(b) or point to authority that similar acts evidence is admissible in a professional negligence case under the circumstances presented here. The Court thus finds that the

other malpractice actions should not be admitted. This motion is GRANTED. 9. “Using depositions in opening.” Westwood objects to using depositions during opening statements.

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H AND L FARMS LLC v. SILICON RANCH CORPORATION, (M.D. Ga. 2023).

H AND L FARMS LLC v. SILICON RANCH CORPORATION (H AND L FARMS LLC v. SILICON RANCH CORPORATION) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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