How much do you charge when you have to talk to attorneys?

[thesauce]

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I’ve had a run of disability cases that I have had to give opinions for. How much do you charge the company you’re giving the deposition for?

 

[Chartreuse Wombat]

$600/hour or fraction for medical record review
$800/hour or fraction for deposition and preparation
$1000/hour or fraction for court appearance expert testimony

More than 30 cases in 20 years I have never had anyone push back on these rates (about 15% less at the beginning; inflation you know). That fact suggest I may be underbilling 🙂

I work both sides...

 

[jurassicpark]

As an internist I charged $750/hr on a whim because a colleague mentioned that number. The lawyer did not blink an eye and quickly agreed.

 

[medgator]

Man I should look into this... Two "hours" is basically a full day locums gig 🤔

Maybe this could be one of those "alternative" careers talked about in a recent IJROBP article...

 

[Krukenberg]

Man I should look into this... Two "hours" is basically a full day locums gig 🤔

Maybe this could be one of those "alternative" careers talked about in a recent IJROBP article...

If you do too many expert witness cases the defendants attorney will accuse you of being a shill in front of the jury.

 

[Chartreuse Wombat]

If you do too many expert witness cases the defendants attorney will accuse you of being a shill in front of the jury.

That's why you work both sides. Also most states require that you are "currently in practice" to be an expert witness.

 

[radoncgrad2019]

How do you even get contacted for these ha

 

[RadOncDoc21]

I don’t care how much they pay, the courtroom is the last place I ever want to be!

 

[Chartreuse Wombat]

I don’t care how much they pay, the courtroom is the last place I ever want to be!

Agreed. In my experience most cases don't go to court. Most settle one way or the other. I have been deposed 6 times and went to court once.

 

[jurassicpark]

I don’t care how much they pay, the courtroom is the last place I ever want to be!

So far, only been deposed once. Never had to go to court. Was in the conference room of the hospital with the cutest little attorney grilling me. Cute as a button I kept smiling even at all the dumb questions she was throwing at me. We thought it was her first time too, I had to ask for clarification on about every sentence she was asking and getting all flustered.