Am I outta line, law talkin' dudes in particular

[Tobra]

Got a call last month, asking if I would do an independent medical examination and chart review regarding a lawsuit. Office manager worked out the particulars, hourly rate for the chart review and fee for actual examination. Did my thing, looked at a stack of paper a foot high, checked the gal out(she is 100%) and sent them a three page report. Thought it odd I got additional documents a few days after sending my findings to the shyster in question, but figure the papers passed each other in the mail.

Got a call today from some flunky in the employ of said shyster, to schedule my deposition for this deal, as the trial is on the 14th of October, and they need to get their expert's depo. My office manager takes the call, is more than somewhat surprised, as expert witness is not on my wish list of things to do. Called them, they are in Fresno, and let the secretary know I would not be giving a deposition or dragging my ass to Tulare County unless subpoenaed. Shyster calls shortly thereafter to determine the deal. Wants to know, "What did he expect, we just wanted him to examine her and review the chart and not be our expert?" Office manager, "Well, that is exactly what your assistant asked. I could have told her he was not interested if she was looking for an expert witness"

Question is, "Am I being unreasonable?"

[livi]

Not really.

Then again, for an additional $10k..

[legion]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Question is, "Am I being unreasonable?"

No. They are trying to weasel more out of you than they asked for or paid you for. That is what lawyers do, it is in their nature.

Stand your ground.

Originally Posted by Tobra

"What did he expect, we just wanted him to examine her and review the chart and not be our expert?"

You expected to do exactly what you were asked. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't lift a finger for them without a contract and compensation, or they will screw. Lawyers try to screw everyone who helps them win a case because they are greedy bastards and want to maximize their take. Look what it got Dicky Scruggs...

[the]

What does your contract with the guy say?

[MRM]

Herr Doktor, if you haven't gotten a more satisfactory answer byt Monday, PM me and I'll give you a call to walk you through the situation. I've handled more than my fair share of IMEs and expert depos with docs who displayed varying degrees of willingness to subject themselves to a deposition.

The short answer is that you are an expert witness. Therefore, they come to you. They should schedule a video deposition in a confernece room at your office at a time that works for you, and they pay your usual and customary fee. Figure a hald hour for depo prep with the lawyer who scheduled the IME and maybe two hours for the deposition itself. They should be able to make it quick and painless enough that you won't mind doing the depo, and the extra money you make won't hurt. Do it at 4:30 some afternoon and don't schedule patients after then, so you're not losing any regular office income or inconveniencing regular patients. If they take care of things to make it painless, convenient and renumerative to you, you shouldn't have any objection to testifying.

Have you given a deposition before? It will be fairly short and painless. There really is no point to getting an IME if the doc isn't willing to testify. Cases usually don't go to trial, but if they do, an IME report is not admissible. It has to come in through testimony. One reason your IME rate is so high is because you're subjecting yourself to the possibility of testifying. If the lawyer had any idea you would be a reluctant witness he would never have had you do the IME. Whoever the flunky it was that set it up with the assurance that you would never have to testify was talking beyond his authority to give assurances. The lawyer should be very displeased with him.

Just out of curiosity, what specialty are you? Neuro or ortho? I gather it's a whiplash car accident claim. They really aren't that hard to take care of and can be kind of fun. If you're defending.

Edit for the peanut gallery. No one is asking the good doctor to do anything without fair compensation. He'll get paid for his time and depo rates are higher than IME rates. The question is whether he can be compelled to provide expert testimony over his objections, whether he has to go somewhere else to give testimony, or whether he's being unreasonable to ask not to have to do a deposition. Whether he can be compelled is a local legal question that I don't know the answer to. As a practical matter I think it is unreasonable to refuse point blank to give the depo, but I think it is very reasonable to insist that the lawyers come to his office at his convenience, don't take more than a couple hours, and he gets paid for his time. For all the grumbling certain poster above have done on this board regarding frivolous lawsuits and non-meritorious claims, I would think said people would be encouraging the good doctor to assist the defense in order to shut down this apparently non-meritorious claim, rather than casting dispersions on an entire class of professionals. Which, by definition, one half of which will always be defending non-meritorious claims and by the logic of the poster, should be commended.

Anyway, Tobra, let me know if you have any questions. I have free time Monday, I'd be happy to talk you through the situation.

[Tobra]

Thanks for the responses.

Podiatrist, ankle injury in this case, Dad is an attorney, so I am used to dispersions regarding lawyers. Just wanted to bounce this off y'all Where do you get that this is a specious suit? The lady was injured, and is all better now. She is asking for lost wages and medical, slam dunk for the plaintiff, if you ask me.

They never mentioned anything at all about being their expert. They asked me to do an IME and chart review, which I did. If they had asked if I would be willing to be their expert, I would have declined. I have given depositions before and have no problem doing so.

They misled me about their expectations, it is not about the money at all. I am not willing to give them more of my time at any price.

[DanielDudley]

What kind of hassle are we talking here ? Can you do this without incoveniencing your patients ?

[greglepore]

What we have here is a failure to communicate. In the PI litigation world, one never schedules an IME w/ a doc that is expected never to testify, it would be pointless. The whole idea of an IME is to have a defense doc available to testify.

[berettafan]

expert witness is the holy grail for some accountants.


*note we make a LOT less dough on average than you fancy doctor types

[Noah930]

I think you're being a bit unreasonable by refusing to perform a deposition. Perhaps whomever "authorized" you to be immune from doing so was wrong. But at the same time, I think it should be an understood part of the agreement (as in, on the common knowledge level) that you do this medicolegal stuff, and you might actually get hauled in to testify (or offer a deposition).

That being said, the deposition is done at YOUR convenience. You schedule it whenever it fits YOUR schedule. They work around you. It's done at your office. They haul their butts in to you. Have to travel far? That's their problem, not yours.

You get compensated. They pay whatever you charge. Even if you were a QME for the state of California, you'd get something like $250 per hour. But you're not bound by QME rules (because you're not one), so you can charge whatever you want. $350/hr, $400/hr is perfectly reasonable. You get paid up front, BEFORE the deposition. You'll have to work out some sort of cancellation policy. Oftentimes depositions are scheduled by the applicant side, as a threat against the defense. A settlement may occur in the meantime, and the deposition gets canceled. Does the attorney's office get their money back, or not? Not unreasonable for them to request their money back, within a certain cancellation time period (i.e. 2 weeks beforehand).

Sounds like you're on the applicant (plaintiff's) side, which is often much less satisfying than being on the defense. Of course, that depends on the particulars of the suit. But there are far more bogus lawsuits out there, than there are people who were wronged and no one's willing to man up to it.

Hey, just be glad you don't have to actually take care of the patient, and their bogus claims.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by DanielDudley

What kind of hassle are we talking here ? Can you do this without incoveniencing your patients ?

I can do it without inconveniencing my patients, can't do it without inconveniencing me.

If they were shopping for an expert witness, they should have said so. I don't think their expectation that this was "understood" is too reasonable. I asked, "So you want me to review the chart, examine the patient and send you a report?" Yes, do that, and send us an invoice for the time spent on chart review and the fee for the examination."

This is for the defense, and the plaintiff has a totally legit claim

[svandamme]

get your ticket, fly over, get a really nice hotel, eat really well, see the town,
do yer thang, and then fly back

bill 'em for the whole thing

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by svandamme

get your ticket, fly over, get a really nice hotel, eat really well, see the town,
do yer thang, and then fly back

bill 'em for the whole thing

problem with that idea is we are talking about Fresno

[svandamme]

well, i'll admit, i know effall about Fresno
but surely they aren't so backwards that they don't have hookers and blow???

[Tobra]

don't have much interest in hookers or blow

I expect I could get some good Mexican food, served by actual citizens of Mexico, that also holds little interest for me.

[svandamme]

common Tobra, there has to be something you can get out of this!!
use your imagination...
i don't really know what floats yer boat, and what Fresno has that works for that boat... but there has to be something!?!

[Hugh R]

Wayne, as a former consultant, I was an expert witness a few times. Whenever a lawyer calls you to review documents, write an opinion, I'm sorry, but the next logical step is to defend your opinion. I think it's expected. Having said that, I hope you're charging in the $350/hour range or better. Charge for everything.

[RWebb]

"They misled me about their expectations..."

- maybe not. they might have assumed that you'd know about doing a depo

MRM put it well.

[jackobleep32]

Right, $375/hr is a pretty good gig.

[Pazuzu]

Tobra, are you a Designated Doctor, or did they just ask you to do this? My better half just became a DD, and we're both interested in learning more about what she got herself into. However, it does seem that whatever the DD says is tantamount to the word of God, and cannot be disputed by anyone except another DD.