Question: Do certain expert witnesses receive over $1,000.00 an hour for their time spent preparing for testimony and testifying in a case?
Answer: Yes, but it depends on the expert. See below.
Judges may order the payment to experts for fees and expenses as the court may deem appropriate. These orders, including an order that the expert be paid a reasonable fee for time spent in responding to discovery, and that the party whose expert is made subject to discovery be paid a fair portion of the fees and expenses that the party incurred in obtaining information from the expert. The court may issue the latter order as a condition of discovery, or it may delay the order until after discovery is completed. These provisions for fees and expenses meet the objection that it is unfair to permit one side to obtain without cost the benefit of an expert’s work for which the other side has paid, often a substantial sum.
Thus, the party seeking discovery is required to pay that expert “a reasonable fee for time spent in responding to discovery,” includes not only time actually spent in a deposition, but also the expert’s time preparing for the deposition. A trial court abuses its discretion when its decision is against the logic and effect of the circumstances before the court. Judges have expressly found $1,000 per hour to be a reasonable fee for a medical expert’s deposition, but it depends upon the expert and what is a reasonable charge for their time.