N.J.R.E. 702 Testimony by Expert Witnesses

2026 Official Court Comment (July 23, 2026) on N.J.R.E. 702

N.J.R.E. 702 incorporates the expert reliability standard for civil cases prescribed in In re Accutane Litigation, 234 N.J. 340, 347-48, 390-91, 396-400 (2018), and the expert reliability standard for criminal cases prescribed in State v. Olenowski, 253 N.J. 133, 151-54 (2023). In both decisions, the New Jersey Supreme Court required that a trial court determining a dispute about the admissibility of expert testimony under N.J.R.E. 702 conduct a rigorous gatekeeping analysis to assess the reliability of an expert’s methodology. Accutane, 234 N.J. at 388-90; Olenowski, 253 N.J. at 151-52. The Supreme Court adopted, with qualifications, a non-exclusive list of factors derived from the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms. Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 593-94 (1993). Accutane, 234 N.J. at 398-99; Olenowski, 253 N.J. at 148, 151-54. The Supreme Court declined, however, “to embrace the full body of Daubert case law as applied by state and federal courts.” Accutane, 234 N.J. at 399; accord Olenowski, 253 N.J. at 154.