KW Plastics v. United States Can Co.

United States Can Co. sued KW Plastics for breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, and tortious interference, alleging that KW had used U.S. Can's trade secrets to obtain a lucrative long-term supply contract with a customer for cans, rings, and plugs. To support its damages claim, U.S. Can designated one of its own financial officers, McGowan, as an expert witness and had him prepare a report calculating lost profits and unjust-enrichment damages attributable to KW's alleged misappropriation. KW Plastics moved to exclude McGowan's expert testimony, arguing his methodology was unreliable: he had not evaluated whether the specific trade secrets at issue actually caused KW to win the contract, his deposition testimony conflicted with his written report, and he offered no documentation supporting his cost calculations or his estimate of KW's manufacturing capacity, which he admitted was largely a guess.