Fifth Circuit Asks the Right Questions, Affirms Summary Judgment on Plaintiffs’ Herbicide Claims as Untimely and Lacking Admissible Expert Support for Causation

As Nobel laureate Richard Feynman once observed, “[w]isdom is knowing when to ask the right questions.” A related proposition is that wise jurists know how to identify and focus on the right questions. Motion practice can turn not only on the facts and the law, but on how the court frames the question to be answered. It is rarely a good sign for a party when the court articulates the issue differently than the party framed it. A recent decision by the Fifth Circuit provides not one, but two prime examples of how correctly framing the inquiry can dictate the results of a motion.