Setting the Right Fee
Medical-Legal
and Psycholegal Services
By Beryl Vaughan
What you should charge in 2026.
Putting the numbers in context.
Tools to elevate your skills, services, and fees.
Setting the Right Fee for
Medical-Legal and Psycholegal Services
ON THIS PAGE
The “GOING RATE”
Expert witness rates/fees in Medicine, including Psychiatry, your unique subspecialties, and Psychology, are applicable to multiple medical specialties.
FACTORS
Where are your fees on the high-to-low scale? Why?
TOOLS
Concrete tools to move the dial, and propel your practice and fees forward.
Why are Forensic Psychiatry and Forensic Psychology the Exemplars?
Because these doctors receive forensic subspecialty training to practice in the dedicated legal environment. Their fees, therefore, reflect the completely different financial landscape than clinical fees. Doctors often come to me and ask if they should charge the same for forensic work as clinical work. The answer is NO. They are unrelated.
Not a Psychiatrist or Psychologist? There’s Info. For You Too
See the a fee adjustments below for specialties if you are not a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Sources
There is little or no credible peer-reviewed research about expert witness fees in mental health and other medical subspecializations, so I tap other sources to open a door to shed light on the question. My methods, research and reasoning are described in the endnotes.3
Other Medical Specialties
30% +/-
I estimate a roughly 30% margin among specialties. Fewer specialists = demand is low and supply high. More=unique specialty and expert witness skill demand is high, supply is low. E.g. a neurosurgeon who has testified more than 30 times vs. a GP who has only been deposed 2 times.
Forensic Psychiatry
Hourly Base Fee
+/- 30% other medical specialty
The hourly base fee is charged for non-testimony services including records review, report writing time, and IMEs.
The hourly testimony fee: Generally $100-$200/hour higher than the base fee.
$400-450
0-6-Months Post Fellowship
Credentials
Pre-Board-Certification in one area.
Fellowship training is a plus.
DO/MD Assumptions
If you hold a DO and feel it is holding you back, bear in mind not all attorneys understand a DO is a physician. Be prepared to clarify it, if needed, in an early call with an attorney or email.
Testimony
Little or no testimony experience outside of Fellowship training.
Unpredictable impact: deposition experience in a clinician capacity.
$450-600+
Board-Certified < 5 years
Non-Negotiable
Reports are well-written and well-reasoned.
You are verbally informative to attorneys. Well-spoken.
In a first call with an attorney, you communicate insight and knowledge with appropriate questions given the case.
Credentials
Credentials are more important than testimony at this junction if you have limited testimony expertise.
One Board-Certification.
Additional Boarded specializations can push fees higher.
Testimony
1-2 trials and multiple depositions, as a disclosed expert witness.
Specialization and Subspecialization
Begin developing knowledge niches as a building block for next fee tier.
Stay current with your primary specialty. Most cases will focus here.
$550-$750+
Mid-Career: 6-15 years in Forensic Practice
Non-Negotiable
Excellent Communicator
Verbally informative to attorneys
Reports are well-written, easy to follow.
Confident delivery of findings.
Testimony
Testimony becomes more important than credentials at this point.
7+ trials, and considerably more deposition experience.
Credentials
Board-Certification(s) and credentials will withstand scrutiny, due diligence checks (below.)
Specialization and Subspecialization
Continue to build subspecialty and knowledge niches.
Stay current with your primary specialty. Most cases will focus here.
Solid Reputation as a Communicator
Attorneys respect your insight and confidence.
You are known for excellent and persuasive reports.
Word-of-mouth is growing.
Opposing counsel are impressed by your reports and some retain you for future cases.
$800+
Forensic practice 15+ years.
Non-Negotiable
Master Communicator / Educator.
Considerable Testimony Experience 20+ trials and more depositions.
Confident. Unflustered on the stand.
Juries easily follow your logical path to a conclusion.
You command respect.
Likeability helps.
Testimony
Solid reputation for quality reports and skill on the stand.
Deft handling of Deposition testimony is impactful on case outcomes.
Reputation
Well-established specialty or niche knowledge and experience.
Well-grounded relationships in your attorney community.
Blemish-free: no, or limited, disqualifications as an expert, or negative press.
Outliers: Above $1,000/Hour
Fees of $1000+ are reserved for those at the top of their field, highly-regarded as expert witnesses and with a large footprint among attorneys.
Multiple Board-Certifications and academic achievements can make a difference.
Credentials Matter Less
At this stage, experience outstrips, but doesn’t replace, impressive credentials. You have likely already survived challenges and have less to prove.
Psychology
Hourly Base Fees (50-60% lower than physicians except in outlier experts)
Base fees reflect services like records review, Independent Examinations, and report preparation. Testimony is generally $100-$200/hour.
$250-300+
< 3 yrs. in Licensed Clinical Practice
< 2 yrs. of Forensic Experience
Licensed; no specialty Board-Certification or training. Some forensic experience.
$350-450+
4-8 yrs. Licensed Clinical Practice and Forensic Practice
Clinical practice 70% of time; balance is forensic.
Note: Clinical experience increases demand as an expert witness.
$450-$600+
8-15+ yrs.
- Considerable testimony experience; reputation for delivering engaging testimony that draws in a jury.
- Known for well-written, well-reasoned and thorough reports.
- Unique fact-witness specialization, e.g. TBIs, Depression Treatment, Life Care Planning, etc.
- Psychological testing skill with insightful interpretation of results.
Non-Negotiable
$250-450 Range
Reports are well-written and well-reasoned.
You are verbally informative to attorneys.
In a first call with an attorney, you communicate insight and appropriate questions.
Over time, you improve the delivery of your testimony and build a reputation for informed and easily parsed forensic insight.
An active clinical practice is a plus.
Non-Negotiable
$450-600 Range
Extensive experience testifying and issuing reports in more than 50 cases.
Reputation for excellent reports and verbal communication skills with juries and with attorneys.
Outlier Fee Factors
American Board of Professional Psychology ABPP.org Forensic Psychology: Nationwide, only 313 psychologists meet the elite qualifications for Board-Certification in Forensic Psychology.[ii] Board-Certification in other subspecialties: higher fees are usually tied to credentials in a subspecialty relevant to a certain type of forensic case, e.g., Neuropsychology in brain injury cases, or Child & Adolescent Psychology in Family Law cases.
The PhD Effect. An attorney might expect the fee of a psychologist with a PhD to be greater than a PsyD simply because they are familiar with “PhD” vs “PsyD.” Your website is a forum to explain the distinction if it applies to your forensic work.
How to Elevate and Propel Yourself and Your Fees
Improve Your Testimony
Record yourself on a Zoom selfie.
- Share your recording with a peer and/or mentor(s) for feedback. If you like groups, consider reaching out to like-minded colleagues to create a peer group dedicated to this activity.
- Testimony tips and tools for improvement.
Coaching and Group Learning
- Search online “Medical expert witness testimony training”
Seminar learning. At least one expert witness training company offers webinars and conferences about giving expert witness testimony. I don’t make endorsements.
One-on-one coach. Approach a more established colleague, or even an attorney, to work with you to improve your testimony skill. Incorporate productive feedback. Expect to pay them for their time.
YouTube. What experts sound like. Search YouTube for “expert witness testimony.” Not kidding. You can watch experts give testimony and take notes: what works, what is a fail.
Learn About Law
It helps to be able to talk “law” with attorneys.
- Attend legal education events.
- Pursue testimony or cross-examination training.
- Have friends who are lawyers? Ask them to teach you more about strategy and procedure.
- American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (AAPL) Conference (CME)
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences Education Events
- Learn what attorneys are learning: Lawyers and Experts Conversation Series (2021; relevant today)
- TAP Expert Witness Seminar (LACBA example)
Many city and regional Bar Associations accept non-attorneys as members. For example:
Extend Your Skills and Certifications
Obtaining subspecialization certification can be an investment of time that opens the door to new areas of litigation.
Doctors who can address more than one area of healthcare are better suited to a complicated case.
Complicated cases are usually the most interesting.
Sample certifications listed below, for example, have a counterpoint to civil litigation.
- AMA EdHub CME lists subspecialty medical training.
- FAA Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) and HIMS (pilot fitness) certification4 = employment litigation, fitness for duty, wrongful death cases.
- Medical device certifications = product liability and standard of care cases (e.g., TMS, joint replacements.)
- MRO (Medical Review Officer, Employment Drug Testing)5 = DUIs, drug abuse factors, fitness for duty.
- Risk of Violence and Threat Assessment Training = workplace safety, public safety cases, criminal violence, domestic terrorism.
Mentorship
A mentor can help you navigate new ground and answer your questions.
- Ask more experienced colleagues if they will serve as a resource for questions as they arise.
- Contact leadership of your Fellowship program and ask for post-Board-Certification support.
- Pursue association with a group practice if supervision and support is offered.
- Set up a peer group that meets on a regular basis–to problem-solve and share resources. Invite speakers to your meetings.
Academic Appointments
Teaching others underscores your claim that you can teach juries.
Faculty Appointments can move the dial higher for fees.
- Pursue teaching and mentoring opportunities at a local or regional medical school or hospital, Residency or Fellowship program.
- You might be offered an Assistant Professorship as a result, or welcomed as an invited speaker.
- Supervising residents is a teaching task and belongs on your CV.
- Attorneys respect academic achievement. As you advance, the less “academic” means your stellar career as a student, and more your credentials as an educator.
Help Attorneys Confirm Your Credentials
American Board of Forensic Psychiatry 
When you claim you are Board-Certified, make it easy for attorneys to find out if you are embellishing your credentials with this tool from the ABPN:
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology VerifyCERT™ Certification and Status Verification Tool can be linked on your website.
Credentials are a factor in setting your fee.
Some claim or imply they are Board-Certified when they are not. When you provide this tool, you are saying “Hey, want to know if I am what I say I am? Don’t take my word for it…” https://application.abpn.com/verifycert/verifyCert.asp?a=4&u=1
A similar tool is available to Psychologists through the ABPP.2
Get Vetted
Know what attorneys can learn about you.
Expert Witness Profiler is one of several companies that provide attorneys with due diligence reports about expert witnesses.
Get this Report YOURSELF. Find out what attorneys are likely to find out about you.
Frankly, experts often are kept in the dark about challenges to their testimony or disqualifications.
From Expert Witness Profiler’s site:
“Learn about cases where an expert has been challenged under Daubert or their testimony has been criticized by the judge or the opposing party. See the grounds for such challenges, their outcomes (where available) and citations to underlying documents. The Challenge Study includes direct challenges to experts as well as instances where the expert’s testimony/ affidavit was submitted in support or against a motion.”
At $175, frankly, this is a bargain. I’ve read these reports and they are stellar.
Vet Yourself
What’s in the public domain?
A lot. And it can impact fees.
It’s pretty easy to learn what anyone can find out about you.
If the information casts a shadow, you will be vulnerable to attacks on the stand and that makes you a less desirable expert witness, reducing the fee you can command.
Take charge of public data.
Inaccuracies can reside with the NPI, Medical Board and licensing data, even doctor listing sites like Docinfo.org.
Some public data is nearly impossible to erase but any official database, like the NPI, can be updated by you. You can also ask sites with inaccuracies to remove your listing or make a correction.
Know that it’s easy to learn “private” information about someone easily. E.g., I pay $10.99 to Truthfinder, a data-scraping service. Shockingly, I find a person’s age, the names of people associated with them like family, street addresses past and present, possible email accounts, phone numbers, criminal history, and more. Sources include social media accounts current and past, court records which are not sealed, tax and voter rolls, property records, news and publications. (What is “public” may vary state to state.)
Everything is reported without any context or protection.
- How many kids do you have? What are their names?
- Your home address is available to, for example, an incarcerated examinee with a history of violence.
- Someone sued you for malpractice, but there’s no record of the dismissal.
- You were charged with a minor offense years ago. Not reported: if the charges were dropped.
Be prepared for a call with an attorney who has already dug up dirt.
Forewarned is forearmed.
Emotional Obstacles to Setting the Right Fee
Magical Thinking
“I don’t think I can justify a higher rate so I won’t.”
If you’ve set your fee based on an uninformed guess, or even a hope, it could be magical thinking.
Magic is not reality.
Emotions: Fear is Powerful
Feelings are not Reality.
Afraid you will lose cases if you charge “too much?”
Why is it emotional?
Taboo: Conversations about money make most of us uncomfortable.
Conflict: An aggressive attorney might try and make you feel like you should charge less through shaming, bullying and gaslighting tactics.
You are letting fear set your fee.
SOLUTION: state what you charge, and stop there. This takes practice and gets easier over time.
Institutionalized Thinking
Don’t assume attorneys will expect to pay you less, or more, because of their own bias.
FYI, in my experience, women charge as much as 40% less than a male counterpart but are equally likely to serve as an expert witness. The doctor has set their fee 40% lower, not the attorney!
Attorneys select expert witnesses for reasons that include strategy and, perhaps, cognitive bias such as racist or sexist attitudes (towards any race or any gender.)
When you set your rate, don’t make assumptions about the attorney. It’s their problem, not yours.
Companion article “Who Decides the Gender of an Expert Witness?”
THE PROBLEM WITH STRINGS
Contingency. If your fees depend on the case winning, you become a financial stakeholder in the outcome. You can never be taken seriously as an objective expert.
Avoid a flat fee. A challenge on the stand can suggest you are doing subpar work to make the flat fee more profitable.
Exception: Flat fees for a records review and report are occasionally required by a court or Workers’ Compensation Boad.
Discounts. A discount means your fees are not standardized for everyone. This could be cast as bias.
Exception: a discount can be appropriate under certain circumstances such as public defender cases or if there is a charitable or volunteer aspect.
FEES WITH STRINGS ATTACHED CAN BE DIFFICULT TO DEFEND IN COURT,
THEY MAY BE UNETHICAL, AND HARD TO COLLECT IF THE CASE IS LOST.
Summary
Physician Expert Witnesses in General. Physician expert witnesses charge $400-$500 in the first years of med-legal practice and rates increase as they acquire moderately incremental experience testifying in depositions and trial.
Rates generally increase $100/hour every few years, assuming they provide excellent and informative reports and testimony and demand (# of cases) is also incrementally moderate.
Higher rate: Board-Certified Forensic Psychiatrist. These doctors are on a steeper fee curve.
They may command the same fee as any other physician in the early years, but their skill in the med-legal environment, and exposure to law, will be greater. Also, they will have testified during Fellowship.
Once Boarded and in practice for a few years, the fee jumps higher faster, in part because they likely get more testimony experience due to specialty training that results in great demand to serve as an expert witness.
Forensic Psychologists. These doctors charge about 30% less than physicians, assuming they are licensed and respected.
For the 50 or so Board-Certified Forensic Psychologists in the country who have testified in 100 cases, they will likely charge as much as a physician who is equally experienced, or more if they are a recognized specialist in a particular area of psychology. Board-Certification in Neuropsychology can also be a powerful credential in cases where cognition is a factor.
The Year 6-10 Plateau. I have observed that at year (approx.) 6, there is an increase of about $100-200/hour. From year 6 to year 10 (approx.) fees stay fairly flat, all things being equal. This assumes the doctor is billing 5-10 hours+/week for forensic work and testifying 5-10 x per year (include depos.) If they bring excellence and experience to the table from year 6 to year 10, fees may increase at a faster rate.
The Year 10-12 Uptick. In approximately years 10-12, rates seem to creep above $700/hour. In unique situations rates can exceed $1,000/hour such as a specialist at the top of their field, persuasive on the stand, and with impeccable credentials.
Wisdom from veteran expert witness Kevin Quinley
“Once you get that first case…
kick ass..”
This applies to all stages of practice, not just launch day.
Podcast “Exlitem: The Expert Witness Ecosystem” from veteran expert witness Kevin Quinley, CPCU, ARM, AIC, AIM, ARe, RPA in an extracted 5 minute “short.”
Endnotes
Examining the Data:
[1] The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) issued a report of pass rates by year for “Board Certifications by Subspecialty” and “Board-Certifications Total, Active and Inactive (Updated 6/4/24).” Screenshots are provided below. In Forensic Psychiatry 1,459 are considered active (of 2,814 granted since 1994.) Because fees estimated in this article are also tied to Forensic Psychiatry as an exemplar, it is helpful to understand the numbers.
Figures / Tables below, as presented:
ABPN Facts and Statistics Board Certifications by Year https://abpn.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Certifications-by-Year-Subspecialties-2024.pdf
Background and break-down. In 1994, the ABPN first introduced Board-Certification in “Psychiatry With Added Qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry” obtained by taking an exam.
The ABPN announced that beginning in 2001, it would be necessary to have completed a one-year Fellowship.
Nearly 500 doctors rushed to the Boards before the deadline in 1999. By 2023, since the first fellowship-trained class took the exams in 2001, a total of 1,504 Board-Certifications were granted. The most recent exams were given in 2025. The ABPN has not yet released statistics about Certifications granted in 2026.
The ABPN estimates that of the total 2,814 Board-Certifications since 1994, only 1,459 are active. Some portion (unknown) of those boarded between 1994-1999 are still currently in practice. There has been some natural attrition as doctors leave medicine or gravitate to other specialties, retired or have passed away.
Using just the Board passing rates since 2001, experience is divided fairly evenly:
1/3 (or more) with at least 10-24 years’ experience (granted pre-1999 + 2001-2011), about 1/3 with 6-14 years’ experience (573 from 2011-2017) and the balance have less than 6 years of experience (427 from 2017-2023 assuming a practice year during 2024.)
The figure below is provided by the ABPN, updated 6/4/2024. Red accents added by this writer.
[2] Forensic Psychologists. In 2025, only 313 Psychologists nationwide hold specialty Board-Certification in Forensic Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP.)
Source: ABPP’s Kathy Holland directs us to https://abpp.org/directory/. Use the drop down arrow under “Board Certified In..” and select Forensic Psychology. Leave other fields blank to see the nationwide total or check locally.
Attorneys turn to those who are not Board-Certified for two reasons: 1. They don’t understand what the Board-Certification describes and/or 2. It is not relevant when a non Board-Certified and highly regarded specialist is available.
[3] Questionable Sources of Fee Information
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational and Employment Statistics (OES) is the referenced source for most data available online regarding how much a medicolegal or psychlegal expert witness earns. Obviously, the subtleties of who can command a fee, and why, are irrelevant to the BLS.
The BLS doesn’t address Forensic Psychiatry though there are confusing overlaps with correctional psychiatry where a forensic examination and clinical treatment can be murky for a probation assessment. The BLS makes no distinction about the commonplace hybrid practice: e.g. private or institutional (salaried hospital) clinical practice, academia, and/pr part-time private forensic practice.
Overall, there aren’t many sources of reliable data, so it’s no surprise the BLS is quoted in news articles and online despite having such wildly flawed data. E.g. it is the misleading source for two Houston Chronicle articles “How much does an average forensic psychologist earn in a year?” (Thompson Jayne, Houston Chronicle, 2018) and “How much does a forensic psychiatrist make?” (Henderson, William, Chron, Undated)
Psychologists have it a little easier.
BLS “Psychologists: Occupational Handbook” reports the shockingly flawed median hourly pay as $53.03 in May 2023 for:
“Psychology, All Other 19-3039” “Other psychologists” include rehabilitation psychologists, neuropsychologists and “forensic psychologists, who work with judges attorneys, and related specialists to understand the psychological aspects of a legal case.”
Don’t Worry.
Before you become horrified/resigned/attached to $53.03/hour, consider the limitations of BLS statistics.
- The hourly rate derives from dividing a salary or annual income by a work year of 2,080 hours. But forensic practice is fairly fluid. As with Forensic Psychiatrists (or most expert witnesses,) a schedule is hybrid performing services in a variety of clinical and forensic settings. If the BLS divides an annual salary by 2080 hours it does not reflect, for example, that 1,000 of the 2,080 hours were forensic work at a rate 10 times $53.03.
- The BLS doesn’t report regulated fees, like those paid by courts or a worker’s compensation schedule.
- Trainee status is not considered. It takes years to become a licensed psychologist and more to master Forensic Psychology. An hourly wage will shift as you move from trainee to experienced doctor. During an unpaid internship year, or while acquiring licensing hours, 53.03 may be too high.
- The BLS does not factor in geography, population density, or wages in rural vs. urban areas.
Ziprecruiter, Indeed, Salary.com, Payscale.com
- Ziprecruiter reports an average $128/hour for a Forensic Psychiatrist–without context or justification. It is neither reliable nor accurate. It reports $49/hour for Forensic Psychologists relying on “third party sources.” Could it be the BLS from some year before the raise to $53.) It doesn’t matter because it’s just plain wrong if we are discussing private practice. Ziprecruiter doesn’t track fees charged in a consultant-style model, but only salaries in the open “job market.”
- Indeed.com, reports forensic psychologist annual salaries by State. The median looks to be about $95k/year…very near the BLS’ $92,740 for a forensic psychologist “(other)” putting us back at the roughly $44/hour figure. But Wait! They disclaim that “Indeed Salaries does not list salary information for forensic psychologists specifically, but the average base salary for a psychologist is $104,907 per year.” What is the source?
- Salary.com also reports annual salaries by State rather than hourly. Forensic Psychologist fees are in a range similar to the BLS. Dig deeper and they reveal their methodology “Salary.com purchases the most current salary surveys available from well-recognized, reputable compensation consulting firms.” I am not aware of any “reputable compensation consulting firm” that has their finger on the pulse of forensic psychology or Forensic Psychiatry.
- Payscale.com reports a Forensic Psychologist earns about the same as reported by the BLS. (Remember, I said sources keep returning to the BLS and, as stated, they are deeply inaccurate.) Payscale diverts to the FBI which, payscale reports, pays $55k/year for a Forensic Psychologist position. Interestingly, Administrative Assistant positions at the FBI pay about the same. I think that’s highly suspect but I could be wrong. Payscale doesn’t provide an option for a Forensic Psychiatrist. Perhaps because they can’t tap the BLS because it doesn’t have a category for a Forensic Psychiatrist.
Private So-Called “Surveys”
ExpertPages.com. $451/Hour. ExpertPages 2024 Expert Witness Fees and Practices Survey Top Line Report, Goldscholle, G.. ExpertPages is an expert witness directory where experts pay to be listed. EP is reputable. They report, across all professions, $451/hour for a “Typical Expert Witness” (their words) and that fees ranged from $55/hour to $2,500/hour (!). chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.expertpages.com/images/EP-Survey-2024-TopLine-FINAL.pdf
SEAK. Forensic Psychiatrists: $450/hour. SEAK 2024 Expert Witness Fee Summary, 250 areas of expertise and 1,600 respondents, all of whom paid to be listed with SEAK, which, like ExpertPages, might be considered a tainted sample if you are seeking objectivity. Of SEAK’s 1600, only 38 individuals (2%) self-endorse as Psychiatrists, whereas 153 are Engineers. The average, therefore, is problematic. I suggest that $450/hour is weighted towards non-medical and non-psychological fields. Take care before extrapolating your own fee from the survey’s findings. However, if you want the whole survey, SEAK would be pleased to sell it to you for $150. chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.testifyingtraining.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/FINAL-2024-Fee-Survey-CTA.pdf
Expert Institute. Psychiatrists: $449/Hour. Expert Institute’s customers are attorneys who, I am informed, pay $5,000/year to access an Expert database. Experts pay nothing.
EI would like to tell you what to charge but beware: EI offers an interactive tool to learn the average fee in a given specialty. Let’s see if their data is robust and consistent with other sources:
Methodology and Reported Data: EI advises that “After compiling expert witness fee data from more than 100,000 cases, we discovered that the average expert witness hourly rate for initial case reviews for all [em. added] expert witnesses is $356/hour, the average rate for deposition appearances is $448/hour, and the average rate for trial testimony is $478/hour.” They don’t explain how they accessed the fee data of an expert which is generally deeply embedded in pleadings, or not public. They also don’t put the information in context of source reliability or geography. Expert Witness Fees https://www.expertinstitute.com/resources/expert-witness-fees/
They provide a table that “shows the average hourly fees for experts in some of our most requested specialty areas.” E.g., the national average for Psychiatry, they report, is $449 for a “review fee.” However, Forensic Psychiatrists and Forensic Psychologists receive training to do more than review a case. They learn dedicated techniques in conducting a Forensic IME including assessing malingering, studying case law, and more.
Unfortunately, EI’s fee tool doesn’t allow adjustments for scope of experience, skill or subspecialty training.
You can see there are some trends among these sources: $350-$500/hour across all expert witness fields.
[4] HIMS Aviation Medical Examiners monitor drug and alcohol use in commercial pilots. A Psychiatrist address mental health concerns. In some cases, a psychiatrists Boarded in Addiction Medicine or Addiction Psychiatry would be the best choice of evaluator. A team of a psychiatrist and neuropsychologist are occasionally tasked with the evaluation. More about HIMS: “Drug and Alcohol Monitoring” FAQ, Federal Aviation Administration. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/media/DA_Monitoring_Programs_and_HIMS_FAQs.pdf and
“Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners,” Federal Aviation Administration, https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/dec_cons/disease_prot/saspec/
[v] Medical Review Officers. “Drug Testing,” Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.https://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/drug-testing and Medical Review Officer, Department of Transportation https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/mro
Conclusion and Summary About Fee “Data”
If I average the fees I report, I arrive at $620/Hour for Forensic Psychiatrists. Contrary, Expert Institute and other so-called “data” that reports averages is it doesn’t reflect the most important elements of a given tier: experience and skill and vagaries of geography.
An average that encompasses from 0-30 years of experience covers too varied and broad a swath for mere math.
[iv] HIMS Aviation Medical Examiners monitor drug and alcohol use in commercial pilots. A team of a psychiatrist and neuropsychologist are generally tasked with the evaluation. “Drug and Alcohol Monitoring” FAQ, Federal Aviation Administration. https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/media/DA_Monitoring_Programs_and_HIMS_FAQs.pdf and
“Guide for Aviation Medical Examiners,” Federal Aviation Administration, https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/ame/guide/dec_cons/disease_prot/saspec/
[v] Medical Review Officers. “Drug Testing,” Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.https://www.samhsa.gov/workplace/drug-testing and Medical Review Officer, Department of Transportation https://www.transportation.gov/odapc/mro
[vi] American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology VerifyCERT™ Certification and Status Verification Tool. https://application.abpn.com/verifycert/verifyCert.asp?a=4&u=1
Other Reading
Applicable to anyone:
“Specialty Guidelines for Forensic Psychology,” American Psychological Association https://www.apa.org/practice/guidelines/forensic-psychology “Date Created, 2011,” Download of .pdf is dated 201
“Ethics Guidelines for the Practice of Forensic Psychiatry, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Adopted May 2005. https://www.aapl.org/ethics.htm
Ventura, Luis E. “Paying an Expert Under a Contingency Fee Arrangement Is a Major No-No.” Legal Ethics Corner (Blog), San Deigo County Bar Association, 2020. https://www.sdcba.org/index.cfm?pg=Legal-Ethics-Corner-10-11
“Ethics Questions and Answers Opinions of the AAPL Committee on Ethics Adopted by AAPL Council May 19, 2013” “Question 6) (Excerpted) An attorney has asked me to do a forensic examination on a Lien, in which I would collect my fee only if the case is successful. Is this ethical? Answer – If your fee or its collection is contingent on the successful outcome of a trial, it is unethical as explained under AAPL Guidelines Section IV, honesty and striving for objectivity. It also is unethical under AMA, Opinions of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, sections 6.01 and 9.07. According to AMA Opinions of the Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, section 8.10, however, a lien may be filed as a means of assuring payment in states where there are lien laws, providing the fee is fixed in amount and not contingent on the amount of the individual’s settlement against a third party. Since your lien would be dependent on the outcome of the case it would be unethical. ” [Emphasis added] https://www.aapl.org/docs/pdf/Ethics%20Questions%20and%20Answers.pdf
