Expert witnesses are often confronted with the dilemma of whether or not to invoice for background legal research, or for research done to bring themselves up to date on the issue for which they are serving as an expert. What experts may not know is that many states' attorney ethics codes prohibit attorneys from billing for legal research to bring themselves up to speed on a legal issue. Accordingly, almost no attorneys are willing to pay an expert for his or her time doing research to get up to speed on an issue.

Remember, as an expert witness you are being retained because you are supposed to be an expert in the field. Any work or research done to get to the point of being an "expert" on the issue should be off the clock and not billable.

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Experts in the Field, Working with RTG

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expert witness
expert witnesses

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