govinfo:USCOURTS-laed-2_23-cv-07195-0

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
EASTERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA 
 
ATALCO GRAMERCY, LLC     CIVIL ACTION 
V.         NO. 23-7195 
GNOTS-RESERVE, INC. &     SECTION: C (3) 
M/V BURWOOD WISE 
 
ORDER AND REASONS 
Before the Court is a Motion in Limine to Strike and Exclude Expert Ronald Campana (R. 
Doc. 72) filed by plaintiff, Atalco Gramercy, LLC. The motion is DENIED. 
I. BACKGROUND 
 This matter arises from an allision on December 7, 2022, while the tug M/V BURRWOOD 
WISE was maneuvering a  crane barge, the ALEX G, at a docking facility owned by Atalco .1 
During this maneuver, the ALEX G made contact with a dock.2 An employee of defendant, Gnots 
Reserve, Inc., was operating the tug.  Atalco brought this action seeking recovery for the resulting 
property damage.3 
 Gnots retained Captain Ronald L. Campana to offer opinions on (1) the structural condition 
of the dock and the absence of a functional fendering system ;4 (2) the custom and practice of 
fendering marine docks on the lower Mississippi River;5 and (3) the applicability of the U.S. Inland 
Navigation Rules to the movement of the ALEX G. 6 Atalco moves to strike Captain Campana’s 
report and testimony.7 
 
1  See R. Doc. 73-1; R. Doc. 82-2; R. Doc. 84-1.  
2  See R. Doc. 73-1; R. Doc. 82-2; R. Doc. 84-1. 
3  R. Doc. 1. 
4  R. Doc. 72-1 at 12. 
5  R. Doc. 72-1 at 9-10. 
6  R. Doc. 72-1 at 10-11. 
7  R. Doc. 72-2. 
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II. LEGAL STANDARD 
Rule 702 permits a qualified expert to offer opinion testimony based on sufficient facts or 
data, reliable principles and methods, and reliable application of those methods to the facts of the 
case. Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharms., Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 589 (1993). Challenges to the factual 
bases of an expert’s opinion ordinarily go to weight, not admissibility, and are properly addressed 
through cross-examination. See, e.g., Tyler v. Union Oil Co. of Ca., 304 F.3d 379, 392-93 (5th Cir. 
2002) (holding that a challenge to the factual foundation of an expert’s opinion “goes to probative 
weight rather than to admissibility”). A motion in limine should be granted only where the 
evidence is inadmissible on all potential grounds . Auenson v. Lewis, No. 94-2734, 1996 WL 
457258, at *1 (E.D. La. Aug. 12, 1996).  
III. DISCUSSION 
Captain Campana has 42 years of experience surveying vessels and marine terminals in the 
New Orleans area . Prior to his surveying career , and after graduating from the United States 
Merchant Marine Academy, he spent ten years as an officer aboard vessels mooring at comparable 
facilities.8 His experience qualifies him to give opinions in this case.  Kittrell v. Ensco Offshore, 
LLC, No. CV 24 -2947, 2026 WL 265612, at *4 (E.D. La. Feb. 2, 2026). The challenges to his 
opinions in this judge-tried case are better directed to the weight of the evidence, not to exclusion 
of it. The risk of prejudice that animates exclusion of expert testimony in the jury context is not 
present here. Gibbs v. Gibbs, 210 F.3d 491, 500 (5th Cir. 2000). 
  
 
8  R. Doc. 72-1 at 14. 
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IV . CONCLUSION 
IT IS ORDERED  that Atalco’s Motion in Limine  to Strike and Exclude Expert Ronald 
Campana (R. Doc. 72) is DENIED. 
New Orleans, Louisiana, this 10th day of April, 2026. 
 
 
WILLIAM J. CRAIN 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
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