Forensic Eval Private Practice

[Dr.Snowyplover601]

I am looking for resources on how to go about starting a small private practice. I'm too early in my career to make this my full-time gig, but I have enough leads to be able to do some forensic evaluations once a week. My biggest issue is that I know literally nothing about business, private practices, or where to even look for information. I've lurked here long enough to know that many people on this forum have successful private practices whichh gives me hope that it can be done. Would anyone be willing to share some advice or point me in the right direction of resources for this very specific type of pp?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[WisNeuro]

What kind of forensic evals, and what prior experience do you have in the area?

 

[Dr.Snowyplover601]

I think I’ll probably stick to CST Evals. I’m trained as a forensic evaluator ( forensic internship and formal forensic postdoc) and that is primarily what I’ve been doing.

 

[Dr.Snowyplover601]

What kind of forensic evals, and what prior experience do you have in the area?

Whoops should’ve replied directly to you. See below.

 

[PsyDr]

Some jurisdictions have a flat rate. It’s pretty easy to look up those rates up, for your area. Failing a public source, you can call the court clerk and nicely explain your position and what you are looking for.

For simple forensic evals, I've seen solo practice incomes range from $40k/yr- ~$640k/yr. The high end person basically lived at the court, and had several techs. He was extremely smart, and flew under the radar for decades. Once his income became public knowledge, his contracts dried up.

Eric Mart, PhD wrote a book about getting into PP in forensics. I found it to be very good.

 

[AcronymAllergy]

Some jurisdictions have a flat rate. It’s pretty easy to look up those rates up, for your area. Failing a public source, you can call the court clerk and nicely explain your position and what you are looking for.

For simple forensic evals, I've seen solo practice incomes range from $40k/yr- ~$640k/yr. The high end person basically lived at the court, and had several techs. He was extremely smart, and flew under the radar for decades. Once his income became public knowledge, his contracts dried up.

Eric Mart, PhD wrote a book about getting into PP in forensics. I found it to be very good.

I'll second the recommendation for Mart's book.

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Third on Eric's book. He's also very quick at responding to emails/calls and is always more than willing to help and discuss this with folks.

 

[earnadegree123]

Anyone willing to share what they charge for forensic work? There aren't many providers in the county I'm planning to practice in and I thought I'd ask around to see what kind of ballpark figure would make sense.

 

[PsyDr]

Anyone willing to share what they charge for forensic work? There aren't many providers in the county I'm planning to practice in and I thought I'd ask around to see what kind of ballpark figure would make sense.

You would really be doing yourself a disservice by comparing across regions. The market is extraordinarily region and expertise dependent.

I would recommend having a friend call the other people in the area, and ask how much they charge. Then call the court clerk and ask. Charge less for a while, establish a client base, then spelt raise your rates to match the competition. Keep an honest self assessment of your worth. Someone with more experience is going to be worth more than you .

 

[BuckeyeLove]

Anyone willing to share what they charge for forensic work? There aren't many providers in the county I'm planning to practice in and I thought I'd ask around to see what kind of ballpark figure would make sense.

So so hard to answer this. With most private practice people i know...it varies. As PsyDr. said the region is a huge part of that equation. Often times it's not going to be a set rate but rather based on a lot of other factors. I'll give you an example. An old mentor and friend of mine secures the contract every year for all of the muni court evals (low end charges) for competency and sanity. His rate per eval is something like 500-600 per eval. He secured that contract by underselling every other competitor and then showed he is reliable, then has been able to raise that rate over the years. He's also not really putting a ton of cognitive legwork into those evals, but enough. He and his staff live at that courthouse pretty much. But he also has his hand in so many other areas, as in he has multiple practices. Some where its strictly profit sharing. Others where he charges a rate that stays pretty consistent, such as 300/hr. When I'm asked for second opinions my rate is around there as well. But friends of mine in a state just two over from where i live bill at 500 for essentially the same service. Another way that evaluators do this work in some states is through the state/county through forensic centers or similar. In my previous state the rate for those evals was 550ish per eval. In my state the forensic centers allow billing at around 70ish/hr. Those are front line evals and much less likely to be pulled in for testimony (so they're generally less risk less reward).