Dear Friend,

Without a doubt, you want the best possible expert witness on your case. If money wasn't a controlling factor, you'd choose an expert with the best credentials and the most courtroom experience. But, there's strategy behind finding the best expert to fit the needs of the case--and your client's budget.

That's why we're presenting a new series on expert billing rates, to demystify the process and help you get the right expert at the right price. Our first article concentrates on the seven factors that affect expert witness billing rates. Next issue, we'll take a look at rates for the medical field.

We also examine some of your war stories in which prominent lawyers share their experiences with expert witnesses. From the initial search to the stand, you can see how these lawyers have adjusted their expert witness strategy to accommodate those lessons. Read Expert Witness Washouts for details.

As always, our mission is to provide readers with an edge in locating, preparing and utilizing experts. Please let me know if you have ideas for upcoming themes or articles by emailing me.

Regards,

Russ W. Rosenzweig, CEO
Round Table Group, Inc.

        

7 Factors That Affect Expert Witness Billing Rates: Get the Best Deal

With so many variables, it can be difficult to accurately assess an expert's worth. Accordingly, The Expert Advisor presents a series on billing rates. This first installment addresses the determining agents in experts' billing rates. If you understand the factors involved in billing, like courtroom experience and geography, you'll know what kind of fees to expect. Future installations will delve deeper into specific industry billing rates.

Discover how experts set their rates.

 
Expert Witness Washouts: 3 Lessons Learned

Two lawyers share their stories of expert testimony gone awry, and speculate on lessons learned. Lesson One: A free expert could cost you. Shell Bleiweiss talks about an expert who agreed to testify as a favor--but didn't say the same things during the trial as he did during the informal interview with opposing counsel.

Avoid the pitfalls.

By Kathryn Regina

It is a foregone conclusion that expert witnesses can make the difference in an important case.  Yet, working with experts, from sourcing them to preparing them for trial, can be a challenge.

In this article, we interview a number of litigators abouttheir "expert witness war stories."

Lesson One: Get help when you have trouble finding exactly the right person

Finding the right expert can make or break a case. Eric Hudson, an attorney with Butler Snow, recalls the time he represented the defendant in a toxic tort case involving 250 plaintiffs. He needed an oncologist with a high level of credibility to respond to cancer claims.

"We had a hard time locating such a specific person," says Hudson, "and when we weren't having any luck we looked into Round Table Group. Within a matter of days they put us in touch with someone who was perfectly credentialed for what we were looking for. And she did a phenomenal job. We couldn't have been more pleased with her."

Paul Ragusa, a partner at Baker Botts LLP, had a similar experience with Round Table Group. He needed a technical expert for a case brought on by a sole indenter against a group of cellular mobile handset manufacturers. "We did attempt to get an expert on our own, and found it difficult to do so," says Ragusa."Round Table Group found several potential candidates, and the case resulted in a very favorable settlement."

Similarly, William Hyslop, a principal at Lukins & Annis PS, required someone with a substantial banking background for a commercial litigation case involving banking issues. "This is a field of fairly specialized expertise. We were able to interview several different candidates that Round Table Group recommended, and selected one that ultimately worked out very well."

Lesson Two: Know your expert's work

Chris Christie, a partner at Bradley Arant Rose & White LLP, recalls a time when opposing counsel's ignorance about its expert's work became detrimental to the case.

"As part of a question, I read a quote from the opposing expert's book," says Christie. "Opposing counsel, who did not know where the quote came from, called the quote the most asinine thing he had ever heard.The expert witness subsequently did not follow that lawyer's objections or other attempts to control his own expert's testimony."

On a separate occasion, the expert in a bid-rigging case stated that 90 percent of bids included at least one tie, when in actuality only eight out of 10 bids had a tie. "He would not admit a mistake," says Christie. "The case settled when, while a Daubert motion was pending, the judge seemed likely to exclude the statistician's testimony as unreliable.

"This is an example of why you always have to check your experts' and opposing experts' work. You need to read what's submitted to you, and you need to review what else he's written, because even a statistician will make a mistake like saying that eight out of 10 is 90 percent. So the lesson is, don't trust your own expert--check it yourself."

Russ W. Rosenzweig, CEO of Round Table Group, an expert witness referral firm, concurs with Christie.  "Finding the perfect expert is difficult enough, but it is not enough.  You also need to predict what the expert will say, and this is done by reading her past articles, deposition transcripts, blog entries.  Collecting these materials is very time consuming, and Round Table Group can help aggregate these materials for you."

Lesson Three: A free expert could cost you

Shell Bleiweiss, whose offices specialize in environmental and OSHA law, recalls the time he took an $11,000 case as a family favor. He needed to prove that a replacement for a residential boiler was defective. The client didn't want to spend additional money on an expert, but the person that installed the boiler agreed to testify as a favor.

Bleiweiss says the expert was willing to say all of the right things, and he did well in the informal interview with opposing counsel early in the case. Ordinarily, Bleiweiss would have gone over everything with him again repeatedly before trial to make sure he was ready.

But because it was a favor, Bleiweiss decided to rely on the assumption that the expert would say the same things he said in the interview. And he didn't.

"He got very wishy-washy at trial and said maybe this, maybe that.Very different from what he'd said before.You dig yourself in a hole you can't get out of when that happens," says Bleiweiss.

"It was as much my fault as the expert's in this instance, but the moral is you have to pay for quality," says Bleiweiss. "And be doubly careful if someone's doing you a favor. Make sure they know you're going to expect the same level of input from them as if they were being paid. And even then, it's hard to follow through with it.In general, you're better off paying."

Round Table Group can help you avoid the problems that can arise if you don't have the right expert on your case by locating, assessing and delivering expert candidates.  RTG's team of trained attorney specialists uses rigorous methodologies, relationships with numerous firms and proprietary databases to find unbiased expertise.  Please contact Mark Swansiger at 202-595-2000 for a demonstration on how Round Table Group provides a level of service, and a breadth and depth of experts that is unmatched.

by Lisa Fields

"An expert can never hurt you," says Shell Bleiweiss, whose offices specialize in environmental and OSHA law. "If money weren't a controlling factor, every case would have one or more experts, because they just help."

There's no doubt about it: An expert witness can make an enormous positive impact on your case. But, it can be difficult to get a handle on billing rates. Many factors play a role when you assess that perfect expert's rate--and the result of hiring an expensive expert might affect more than your client's purse.

Paul Ragusa, a partner at Baker Botts LLP who specializes in intellectual property, is of the opinion that high expert billing rates can call an expert's credibility into question. "The other side can elicit billing rates through cross-examination and make the expert out to be a hired gun."

Sometimes, not even the expert knows the appropriate billing rate: Eric Hudson of Butler Snow says inexperienced academics have asked him what they should charge. On the other end of the spectrum, Hudson says he has used experts that charge upwards of $1,000 an hour. "But, they're sophisticated professors at Ivy League institutions--and they're very good at what they do."

When so much is at stake and that much variation exists, how can you accurately assess an expert's worth?

The Expert Advisor's series on billing rates will answer any questions you have. Round Table Group has compiled comprehensive data, based on their client-expert pairings from 2006 and 2007, that reveal how--and how much--expert witnesses charge.

This first installment uncovers determining agents in expert's billing rates. Consider the following:

1. Fees can vary widely among experts within the same field.

   That's because experts with more courtroom experience are at a premium.

   "A doctor who testifies often or has given many depositions, for example, can charge more than a doctor with board certification and great credentials," says Round Table Group's Nick Zafran. "Those with less courtroom experience typically charge a lower rate to break in as expert witnesses."

2. More work experience in a given field doesn't equal a higher rate.

   While experience as an expert does play a role in what they charge, there isn't a marked difference in the fees for someone with five to 10 years of experience in a given field as compared to one with 20 or more years of experience, says Zafran.

3. Geography dictates rates.

   The location of an expert witness' office can indicate his rates, according to Round Table Group data. An expert from North Carolina, for example, is far less expensive than one from New York City.

   Attorneys should consider experts without geographic restrictions for this reason, says Zafran. "Often, attorneys are interested in someone local," he says, "but a flight and a hotel room for an expert witness from out of town can end up costing far less for attorneys in large metropolitan areas."

4. Rates may vary based on the work required.

   Many experts charge one rate for phone consultations, document reviews and written recommendations and a higher hourly rate for courtroom appearances, which are less convenient for experts and harder to fit into their schedules, says Zafran.

5. Most experts ask for a refundable retainer.

   This up-front lump-sum, from which the hourly rate is deducted, ensures that experts get paid, says Zafran. The average retainer today is $4,000, according to Round Table Group research.

6. It's possible to negotiate fees.

   Sometimes, an expert witness' rate may be flexible, says Zafran, so it doesn't hurt to ask.
   
   "This is one of the advantages of working with a firm like Round Table Group," says Russ W. Rosenzweig, CEO of Round Table Group.  "For clients with specific expert budgets, or for price-sensitive cases, an expert witness referral firm will locate, assess and deliver experts within a pre-determined fee range."
   
   Zafran also noted that it can be awkward for a client to negotiate directly with an expert: "This sometimes creates an uncomfortable conflict.  Firms like Round Table Group play the role of a 'third-party diplomat' to negotiate rates with experts in a way that is natural and comfortable for all parties."
   

7. Round Table Group makes billing easier.

   Round Table Group oversees billing for its clients, which simplifies the process for attorneys and expert witnesses alike, says Zafran.

   Experts who have had billing problems in the past are relieved that someone else is responsible for that aspect of the job. And attorneys appreciate the simplified, consistent bill they receive from the Round Table Group, rather than the varied invoices and time sheets that individual experts submit.

We will drill down and address rates for specific industries in issues to come. Here's a preview of our next installment, in which we'll focus on billing rates for expert witnesses in the medical field, including the following groups:

• Doctors--the majority of whom are specialists, such as surgeons or oncologists--charge an average rate of $551 per hour

• Medical device experts--typically mechanical or biomedical engineers--charge an average rate of $390 per hour

• Nurses--who can testify about procedural issues--charge an average rate of $365 per hour.

"These are the rates of the best experts in the country," says Zafran, who has been researching and compiling the billing data. "The rate averages we have are ones actually accepted by clients, so they can be a guideline for attorneys who think an expert is charging too much."

Continue reading 7 Factors That Affect Expert Witness Billing Rates: Get the Best Deal.