How Rebuttal Expert Disclosure Deadlines Work
In practice, parties should pay close attention to whether an expert disclosure is truly rebuttal or instead should have been included in the party’s original expert disclosure. Courts often scrutinize that distinction, especially when a party tries to introduce new opinions under the label of rebuttal.
Rebuttal expert disclosures in federal court are generally due 30 days after the other party’s expert disclosure. This deadline comes from Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(D)(ii) and applies when the rebuttal evidence is intended solely to contradict or rebut evidence on the same subject matter identified by another party.
In many federal cases, the court’s scheduling order controls expert disclosure deadlines and may displace the default timing in Rule 26(a)(2)(D). Users should always compare the calculator result to the scheduling order, local rules, and any case-specific order entered by the judge.