Becoming an expert witness

Becoming an expert witness: ©Syahrir - stock.adobe.com

The number of trials in need of medical experts seems to be growing every year, and this is a great opportunity for physicians to supplement their income and become well regarded in legal circles.

After all, medical expert witnesses can earn between $500 to $1,500 an hour, according to SEAK Inc., which prepares health care professionals with the skills, education, abilities and knowledge for witness testimony. And the more cases one works on, the higher the compensation can grow.

“That money is essentially clean money as there’s almost no overhead. They can make a very good amount of money doing this work,” says James J. Mangraviti, Jr., a principal at SEAK. “There are doctors who get very busy doing this work. Even charging on the lower end of the scale, if they can do it for four hours a week, that’s an additional $100,000 a year.”

Mangraviti notes the majority of the work is done from a home office, with doctors reviewing medical charts, doing research, writing reports and talking on the phone with lawyers, so the time commitment is not what some might expect.

“When it comes to testifying, most of it today is done on Zoom, so the doctor doesn’t need to leave,” he says. “A trial is very rare because most of these cases settle.”

Thomas Pontinen, M.D., LCP-C, cofounder of MAPS Centers for Pain Control, has a lot of expert witness experience under his belt, testifying as a pain doctor, anesthesiologist and certified life care planner.

“I average doing two to three depositions per week, and have done more than 100 depositions on over 200 cases,” he says. “I’ve testified in live trials multiple times and have been retained on various cases including personal injury, workers compensation and malpractice suits in multiple states.”

Having done so many depositions, Pontinen has developed a good understanding of the law. He knows the types of questions asked, how to approach the deposition both before and during the case, how to communicate with the lawyers, how to bill properly, what paperwork is needed beforehand, and more.

“I see my work as not only helping law firms who retain me, but more so helping the patient or]plaintiff or defendant have a fair and just trial and a conclusion and settlement they deserve, which doesn’t just mean as much money as possible, but the means to make their lives whole again and continue to access the resources they need for their continued treatment in the future,” he says. “Their pain [or] injuries rarely stop once the case settles, and without a fair judgement, they will continue to suffer unnecessarily.”

Anyone can be a witness

To be an expert witness, physicians must be board certified in whatever specialty they practice in and have an active license, according to Mangraviti.

Although the most common specialties for witness experts tend to be orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery/spine surgery, interventional pain, physiatry and neurology, almost all physicians can find work in this legal world.

Mangraviti notes that physicians most in demand are those with specialties for people who have been injured through an automobile or a slip and fall accident.

Finding expert work

It is not unusual for lawyers to seek out experts by simply asking around or looking at published papers that doctors may have written.

“What’s going to really drive how much work they get as an expert witness is what their reputation is amongst the lawyers,” Mangraviti says. “There’s a lot of repeat and word-of-mouth business for those who are clear and intelligible about their opinions.”

Chadi Nabhan, M.D., an oncologist and the author of “Toxic Exposure: The True Story Behind the Monsanto Trials and the Search for Justice,” explains how he became involved in the landmark class-action case, which resulted in 100,000 settlements for $11 billion.

“As a lymphoma specialist and researcher, I was contacted by the Miller Firm out of Virginia to review cases of patients alleging their lymphoma diagnosis was because of their heavy exposure to Roundup, the herbicide manufactured and sold by Monsanto,” he says. “I did not do expert witness work before. I agreed to review the literature on the topic and subsequently started reviewing the patient cases, agreeing to help the law firms on behalf of the patients.”

Not only was his testimony influential in the judgement, but he enjoyed learning more about the judiciary process and litigations, and has remained open about future expert witness opportunities.

Pontinen learned about witness opportunities because his practice sees a lot of personal injury and workers’ compensation patients, and he was deposed as a treating doctor for cases he worked on.

“As I learned more and got better at depositions, I was able to network through existing relationships and find more expert work,” he says. “You can also advertise yourself on places like LinkedIn, or create an LLC for yourself and advertise yourself to find business. But once you develop those relationships within your local community, it’ll snowball as the same firms will want to use you if you do well and then other firms will hear about you.”

SEAK has a directory in which physicians can place their name, and lawyers use it when searching for someone to hire.

Tips for success

One tip Pontinen offers is to take classes on the legal process so you know how to have an intelligent conversation with lawyers.

“Just as you know when someone speaks to you regarding someone’s medical care, you can immediately tell if they’re in the medical field or not, a lawyer can tell right away if you’re someone who understands the legal world or at least the world regarding expert witness work,” he says. “If so, they’ll be much more apt to try you out.”

Another tip is to be organized, as the easier you are to work with, the more work will usually come your way.

“They always want your current CV, a W-9 tax form and your terms. This includes your charges, cancelation policy, how the depo[sition] will be done –– most of the time now it’s Zoom –– trial fees, traveling, etc.,” Pontinen says. “They need all that when they submit you as an expert.”

Another thing any doctor can do is become a certified life care planner and get a formal certification as this will set them apart from other legal medical experts.

“This allows you to comment on things like future care needs and billing [or] costing and not be disqualified as an expert in these fields,” Pontinen says. “It allows lawyers to avoid having to retain another expert in life care planning and or billing, which they love.”

Money is not the only benefit for physicians taking on expert witness work.

“It will absolutely make them a better doctor for their patients, because when you work on these cases, you really get to do a deep dive on the medicine that you don’t get to do normally,” Mangraviti says. “It will also make you a better documenter. By reviewing malpractice cases, they will see how doctors could have avoided malpractice just by documenting a little bit differently.”