The Judge and The Historian

Ramses Delafontaine

Historians as Expert Witnesses Ramses Delafontaine

James Kirby Martin

James Kirby Martin

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Martin is a nationally recognized scholar of Early American history, especially the era of the American Revolution, and he is also well known for his writings on various aspects of American military and social history. He received his B.A. degree from Hiram College and then earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He began his teaching career at Rutgers University, where he earned the rank of Professor of History and also served for a period as Vice President for Academic Affairs. In 1980, he moved to the University of Houston, having accepted the assignment of serving as Department Chair of History with the mandate to foster the development of a cutting- edge program fully devoted to excellence in teaching and the production of high quality scholarship. He has done consulting with some of the nation’s most eminent law firms in regard to the history of various consumer products, including alcohol and tobacco. Martin’s teaching interests include Early American history through the Revolution, American military history through the Civil War, aspects of World War II, and Medicine and Health in the American Experience, especially in relation to the history of drinking, smoking, and hard drugs.

Martin has been involved in 23 tobacco-related court cases for the defence, especially in Engle Progeny cases. In a deposition in 1999 pertaining to National Asbestos Workers Medical Fund v. Philip Morris Martin declared he charged $120 an hour for his expert witness work.[1] A decade later he stated in an expert report submitted in Richardson v. R.J. Reynolds that he billed $225 an hour for his litigation-driven research.[2] In a deposition from 2012 relating to an Engle Progeny cases Martin acknowledged he had made around $800,000 in seven years [2005-2012] through his work for tobacco litigation.[3]

 

[1] See deposition of James Kirby Martin, September 29, 1999, National Asbestos Workers Medical Fund v. Philip Morris. Westlaw reference: 1999 WL 34749162.

[2] See expert witness report of James Kirby Martin, February 17, 2010, Giddens v. R.J. Reynolds. Westlaw reference: 2012 WL 4107324.

[3]See deposition of James Kirby Martin, August 22, 2012, In re: Engle Progeny Cases. Westlaw reference: 2012 WL 4107353.