2017 SEAK, Inc.

Survey of Expert Witness Fees

JAMES J. MANGRAVITI, Jr., ESQ.

STEVEN BABITSKY, ESQ.

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. This book is for informational purposes only. It is

not intended to constitute legal advice. An attorney or other appropriate source should be consulted if

necessary.

No part of this work may be reproduced or distributed in any manner whatsoever or by any electronic or

mechanical means, including information on retrieval and storage systems, without permission in writing from

the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. For information send a written

request for permission to SEAK, Inc., P.O. Box 729, Falmouth, MA 02541. Phone: 508-457-1111. E-mail:

www.seak.com or mail@seak.com.

TEXTS (www.seak.com)

How to Be a Successful Expert Witness: SEAK’s A-Z Guide to Expert Witnessing

How to Write an Expert Witness Report

How to Be an Effective Expert Witness at Deposition and Trial: The SEAK Guide to Testifying as an Expert Witness

How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice: Evidence Based Best Practices

How to Prepare Your Expert Witness for Deposition

SEMINARS (www.seak.com)

National Expert Witness Conference (annual since 1990)

How to Be an Effective Expert Witness

Law for Experts

Practice Aids (www.seak.com)

SEAK Expert Witness Retention Contract

DVD VIDEOS (www.seak.com)

The Expert Deposition: How to Be an Effective and Ethical Witness

Winning Over the Jury: Techniques for Experts That Work

Cross-Examination: How to Be an Effective and Ethical Expert Witness

The Most Difficult Questions for Experts: With Answers

ONE-ON-ONE ASSISTANCE TO EXPERT WITNESSES (www.testifyingtraining.com)

Mentoring

Report Writing Training and Assistance

Marketing/Practice Building Assistance

Deposition Training and Preparation

Trial Training and Preparation

Daubert Hearing Training and Preparation

James J. Mangraviti, Jr., Esq., has trained thousands of expert witnesses through seminars,

conferences, corporate training, training for professional societies, and training for governmental

agencies including the FBI, IRS, Secret Service, NYPD, and Department of Defense. He has designed

prepare individual expert witnesses for upcoming testimony in high stakes cases such as patent

litigation, antitrust, murder, catastrophic injury, wrongful death, product liability, and medical

malpractice. Mr. Mangraviti also assists expert witnesses one-on-one with report writing, mentoring,

and practice development. He is a former litigator who currently serves as Principal of the expert

Expert Witnesses Make and How to Avoid Them; and How to Market Your Expert Witness Practice:

Evidence-Based Best Practices. Mr. Mangraviti was the co-founder in 2000 of SEAK’s Expert

Witness Directory (www.seakexperts.com), which is the premier national resource for attorneys to

locate expert witnesses. He may be contacted at 978-276-1234 or [email protected].

Steven Babitsky, Esq., is the President and founder of SEAK, Inc., the Expert Witness Training

Company. He was a personal injury trial attorney for twenty years and is the former managing partner

of the firm Kistin, Babitsky, Latimer & Beitman. Steve has helped expert witnesses and their attorneys

prepare for deposition in a broad range of cases, including antitrust, patent, medical malpractice,

wrongful death, computer forensics, and many others. He has trained the Federal Bureau of

Deposition; The Biggest Mistakes Expert Witnesses Make and How to Avoid Them; and How to

Market Your Expert Witness Practice: Evidence-Based Best Practices. Attorney Babitsky is the co-

developer and trainer for the “How to Be an Effective Expert Witness” seminar and has been the

seminar leader since 1990 for the Annual National Expert Witness and Litigation Conference. Mr.

Babitsky trains hundreds of experts every year. He may be contacted at 508-548-9443 or

Expert Rates

Average fees for testifying at trial have increased a total of 14% over this three-year period for an

annual increase of 4.6%. The current average fee for testifying at trial is $513/hour. Average fees for

file review and case preparation have increased 15% over five years, or 5% per year. The average fee

over the past three years for an annual increase of 4.3%. The average fee for testifying at deposition is

now $483/hour. Experts who work mostly for defendants reported significantly higher hourly fees

across the board than plaintiff experts or experts who work equally for defendants and plaintiffs.

Rate Increases

A full 41% of surveyed experts reported that they did not raise their rates in the last 3 years. Of the

59% of experts who reported raising their rates, only 1% reported that raising their rates was a bad

business decision that backfired. Defense experts were twice as likely to report that raising their

rates was a bad business decision which backfired.

Recommendation: Experts who haven’t raised their rates to market rates should consider doing so.

Written Retention Contracts

35% of experts do not require retaining counsel to sign a written retention contract. A large majority

of experts (65%) do require retaining counsel to sign a written retention contract. This is essentially

the last 3 years. A significant minority (29%) reported at least one instance of an ultimate failure to be

paid. Experts who work mainly for plaintiffs were far more likely to report collection difficulties.

Recommendation: Expert witnesses can be expected to experience collection difficulties every once in

Credit Cards

hope of the authors that this report will assist experts in making optimum business decisions.