Can you receive compensation for being an "expert witness"?

[ems2doc]

Let's say I'm a trauma surgeon and a lawyer contacts me to take the stand as an "expert witness" about head trauma for a client he has. Would it be fair for me to ask for compensation?

Note: I'm not talking about being an expert witness against another doc, I'm talking about if for some reason the lawyer wanted a doctor to testify against a criminal who fractured the skull of one of your patients for example.

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[SLUser11]

Plenty of physicians from all specialties do legal review and act as expert witnesses to make a little extra money. You typically charge an hourly rate (e.g. $500/hr).

The more junior you are, the more likely your opportunities for legal review will be undesirable. My first year in practice, I was approached by a lawyer who was well-known from the back-page phone book advertisement to be an ambulance chaser....

 

[Smurfette]

Let's say I'm a trauma surgeon and a lawyer contacts me to take the stand as an "expert witness" about head trauma for a client he has. Would it be fair for me to ask for compensation?

Note: I'm not talking about being an expert witness against another doc, I'm talking about if for some reason the lawyer wanted a doctor to testify against a criminal who fractured the skull of one of your patients for example.

Yes, absolutely. It is expected that you will be paid for your time (I was subpoenaed for this purpose--one of my patients was the victim and I was asked to testify about the injuries at the assailant's trial---and it was a non-issue that the DA would receive a bill for my services). We have a policy where I work as to what our rates are for this. You can (and should) charge a rate for your time, including travel time, time talking to attorneys for case prep, etc. Our policy is that everything gets rounded to 15 min increments. Certain things can get a higher hourly rate (i.e. court testimony and depositions) than others as well.

 

[JayDoc06]

There is a difference between being an expert witness and being involved in a case and therefore giving a deposition. Generally you will be reimbursed for your time to give a deposition at some hourly rate. Expert witnesses generally have gray hair and get paid for their experience and it is quite lucrative. "Reviewing" a case is generally low level work that can even be done by medical students where the attorney just wants to know if there is anything that might have merit.

Btw- any problems with medical malpractice would vanish immediately if physicians stopped testifying for plaintiffs, period.

 

[dpmd]

I guess I am a sucker. I testified before and a few other times explained things to the prosecutor including what I figured the defense might say (like one guy who got shot but survived until he had a delayed bleed, I made sure he knew the delayed bleed was absolutely related to the gunshot wound) but never asked for money. Mostly because I was subpoenaed while in residency and no one else had ever gotten any money for testifying so I didn't realize it was an option.

 

[vhawk]

There is a difference between being an expert witness and being involved in a case and therefore giving a deposition. Generally you will be reimbursed for your time to give a deposition at some hourly rate. Expert witnesses generally have gray hair and get paid for their experience and it is quite lucrative. "Reviewing" a case is generally low level work that can even be done by medical students where the attorney just wants to know if there is anything that might have merit.

Btw- any problems with medical malpractice would vanish immediately if physicians stopped testifying for plaintiffs, period.

This is the pseuointellectual version of "snitches get stitches."