Expert witness?

[BlondeDocteur]

Curious if any of you ever serve as expert witnesses. If so, pros and cons? How do you set your fees?

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[LADoc00]

Ive done everything including this. I set my fees too low, think it was 250/hr. and it supposedly created the impression I was "cheap"...or so my attorney buddies told me.

It is only okay IMO. Even if you charge 500+ (some very rare super stars do charge 2K/hr), it still is NOWHERE near as lucrative as just reading tons and tons of 88305s fast..

I did it to get the experience and was lucky enough to get paid quick by the firms. I have heard horror stories of guys getting paid only years later or never getting paid...caveat emptor!!

 

[dr4n6]

I do a fair amount of expert witness consulting as a forensic pathologist but it is really no different than doing any other type of medicolegal consulting. As was mentioned above, you want to have a good relationship with the firm/attorney that retains you, as sometimes getting them to pay your fee is a real tooth pulling experience. With respect to fees, definitely regionally based. I am in the NE and average rate here tends to be $500/hour, give or take, for a seasoned/well experienced expert. Definitely there are far easier ways to make a buck however.

 

[BlondeDocteur]

How did you get started, out of curiosity?

 

[Alteran]

I do a fair amount of expert witness consulting as a forensic pathologist but it is really no different than doing any other type of medicolegal consulting. As was mentioned above, you want to have a good relationship with the firm/attorney that retains you, as sometimes getting them to pay your fee is a real tooth pulling experience. With respect to fees, definitely regionally based. I am in the NE and average rate here tends to be $500/hour, give or take, for a seasoned/well experienced expert. Definitely there are far easier ways to make a buck however.

I might be a tad naive about this, but don't you ask for the money upfront before you so much as lift a finger? At least that's how the doctors from where I am from do their depositions. They'll just stop talking midway through a deposition if they go over their allotted 1 hour time unless another $1,500 check is cut to them on the spot.

 

[dr4n6]

I recently started requesting a retainer in advance from new clients. Many times however when I get the initial call from an attorney they are in a bit of a time crunch and need a report within a couple of weeks, so I do take the case on a bit of a leap of faith that I will get paid. Typically, it takes a solid 2+ months from the time I issue an invoice until I actually see payment. Depositions are a different animal and I always ask for payment in advance, as once the depo is over, and especially if it was a hostile depo, trying to get paid may be difficult.

 

[dr4n6]

How did you get started, out of curiosity?

I have subspecialty boards in forensics, which lends itself well to expert witness consulting, as we frequently are in court. I think that unless you are well known with subspecialty expertise you may have a tough time trying to build a reputation as an expert witness. You also may find it easier if you live in a larger metropolitan area, as you probably are not going to want to testify against a colleague if you live in a two horse town. A lot of the pathologists that do expert witness testimony gravitate along party lines and tend to stick to either being a defence or plaintiff's expert and do not cross sides, so if you are trying to build up a small expert witness practice your pathway may be dictated by what type of practice the attorneys have that reach out to you.

 

[circulus vitios]

Ive done everything including this. I set my fees too low, think it was 250/hr. and it supposedly created the impression I was "cheap"...or so my attorney buddies told me.

It is only okay IMO. Even if you charge 500+ (some very rare super stars do charge 2K/hr), it still is NOWHERE near as lucrative as just reading tons and tons of 88305s fast..

I did it to get the experience and was lucky enough to get paid quick by the firms. I have heard horror stories of guys getting paid only years later or never getting paid...caveat emptor!!

Isn't it a lot easier to do $500/hr x a few hours of medicolegal consulting than it is to queue up a comparative dollar amount of 88305s?

 

[2121115]

Isn't it a lot easier to do $500/hr x a few hours of medicolegal consulting than it is to queue up a comparative dollar amount of 88305s?

Nope, not at all.

 

[dr4n6]

Expert witness consulting is not exactly a get rich quick scheme. For 95+% of the individuals that do consulting their expert witness earned income probably represents <5% of their total annual income. The exceptions are the individuals that are retired and do a bit of consulting and the full time professional ******-but those individuals are few/far between.

 

[vistaril]

Nope, not at all.

damn for all the complaining you guys do you've got it pretty good if it's easy to read 88305's and crank out way more than 500/hr in net profit.....not too many people in medicine are generating way more than that in profit per hour

 

[LADoc00]

damn for all the complaining you guys do you've got it pretty good if it's easy to read 88305's and crank out way more than 500/hr in net profit.....not too many people in medicine are generating way more than that in profit per hour

You should have thought more carefully about your choice of specialty.

 

[WEBB PINKERTON]

Is that Vladamir Putin wearing sunglasses in that avitar picture?