Can I become an expert witness
Possibly, but there are some demanding criteria to meet:
- You should be near the top of your profession.
- You must be able to analyse detailed and lengthy written submissions and write clear and precise analyses of the position which should be intelligible to a lay-person.
- You should be able to authenticate your expertise with verifiable experience and recognised professional qualifications.
- You must be able to present your findings in a Court of Law and be able to respond well to searching cross-questioning in court. You will need to be articulate, confident, authoritative and dignified.
- It is likely that you will have had papers printed in professional journals.
- You should be able to provide references which help authenticate your skills in relation to all the issues itemised above.
- You should be aware that your credentials could be subject to detailed scrutiny in court and must make every effort to ensure that they are beyond dispute.
- It would be helpful were you to join an organisation like The Acadamy of Experts or The Law Society and your initial lack of court experience can be ameliorated by training directed at preparing you for that demanding environment.
The financial rewards for acting as an expert witness can be very substantial but you should not let your judgement be swayed by that consideration. You must be able to fulfill most of the criteria above.
Your evidence can have a very major life affecting impact on the individual litigants lives - they may get massive compensation or they may end up in jail. You must be able to undertake your work with a full understanding of the implications. You are being paid well for your expertise, your responsibility is to deliver correspondingly accurate and defensible evidence. Failure to do so has resulted in the very public disgrace of experts at the top of their professions.
As a prospective expert witness what fees can I anticipate
Fees vary and will be related to your field of expertise, qualifications, experience (both in your chosen expertise and experience in the Courts of Law). It is reasonable to expect charges comparable with those of the legal profession. Some may charge professional fees as low as £60 per hour, especially if lacking in court experience. Expenses will be added to the hourly rates if applicable. Some experts will adjust their fees on a case by case basis. Fees are not negotiable. Some experts will, however, pitch their fees lower if they believe a particular case merits their attention but the circumstances are such that their normal rate would jeopardise the likelihood of their involvement.
Occasionally experts (and lawyers) choose to work on a pro-bono basis. There can be a number of reasons for doing this. The starting point may be that the client is not in a position to pay lawyers fees and the likelihood of winning is low or difficult to gauge, for example:
the case is interesting, newsworthy, the client is particularly deserving of help, or the case seems to represent a major injustice. An expert with little court experience may get that experience by initially working for lower fees (or even none on a pro-bono or contingency fee basis), perhaps on cases where the chances of success may be considered to be below average.
Fees are normally charged for preparation time, it is not unusual for there to be vast bundles of material related to the case to read through. An expert will usually produce a written report for the lawyers in advance of the court case and often the case will be settled out of court and the expert will not need to attend court. If court-time is necessary then travel, accommodation, travelling time and waiting time (waiting to be called into the court) are all chargeable.
Individual legal prectices may specialise in certain areas of the law. For example: if you are a medical expert then you should focus your attention on lawyers specialising in medical negligence or personal injuries.
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