The moving defendants brought a motion to strike an expert report served late by the co-defendant, and to prevent the expert from testifying at the upcoming trial.
The responding party argued the motion should be deferred to the trial judge under Rule 53.03(3).
The court held that while deferring to the trial judge is the general rule, a motion judge can rule in advance in rare cases to prevent prejudice and loss of trial time.
The court struck the report, finding it failed the Mohan criteria for admissibility because it relied on an irrelevant statutory framework (the Occupational Health and Safety Act) and assessed an ordinary standard of care that did not require specialized knowledge.