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We’ve been talking a lot about expert witnesses lately. From the job description to what it takes to become an expert witness and even how to build your credibility once you get started as one, we’ve covered it all.
And there’s a reason for it: it’s a great side hustle.
Becoming an expert witness has become one of the most popular choices for physicians seeking extra income. In today’s countless malpractice litigations and insurance claims, an expert witness won’t be out of a job anytime soon.
However, payments as an expert witness work a little differently compared to other alternate careers as a physician. You’ll be earning good money, but the actual amount will vary greatly depending on specialization, the hours you work, and where. Today we’ll discuss:
- Median salary as an expert physician
- Breaking down the duties
- How is the pay scale working out for expert witnesses countrywide
What’s The Average Salary For Medical Expert Witnesses?
As an expert witness, you wouldn’t just be offering testimony but researching the material, getting into the details of the case in light of your medical expertise, prepping how you will present your findings in your report, depositions, and more.
And all of these duties? They can have different fees.
The average expert witness can expect to make $450 per hour for researching and prepping the case alone. Testifying makes a little more, at a median of $475 per hour. And testifying in court? That’s an easy $500 per hour.
Plus, these numbers are only expected to keep growing. The expert witness field has seen a 12.5% increase in salary since 2021, making it one of the fastest-growing side gigs for physicians in the country.
It’s also important to remember that contract-based agreements have seen even better numbers, with retainer medians hitting the 15% mark over the last three years. A substantial number of expert witnesses have raised their fees as time has gone by, with only 1% regretting doing so.
So, there is a lot of career satisfaction involved here. Expert witnesses seem to be doing pretty well overall, at least when it comes to salary.
However, there is a lot of variation in pay based on factors such as the state you work in, the field of medicine you specialize in, and the kind of case you will be employed for.
Specializations: Your Key To Getting The Big Bucks?
So, what if you wanted to further your career as an expert witness and increase your earnings more than the average? Well, that’s where specializations come in.
Sure, there is a discrepancy in pay based on where you’re employed. For example, New York and the District Of Columbia have the highest salaries for expert witnesses. However, North Carolina, on the other hand, has the lowest pay in the country.
But the real variation in who gets the most money as an expert witness? That depends on your level of expertise and the sub-specialty you chose to get into. The main reason why expert witness salaries vary so much across the board is that specific specializations are more sought after than others.
Think of it this way: some fields will always be susceptible to errors due to their high-paced nature, therefore gaining a reputation for more malpractice and negligence issues. It’s one of the main reasons general surgery ranks so high on the list of medical lawsuits.
But that doesn’t mean general surgeons make for the highest-paid expert witnesses. No, that goes to expert witnesses with experience as neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, or plastic surgeons. These three specialties have some of the most intense training periods, which also happen to be some of the longest. That investment needs an earning potential that matches.
But it’s also about responsibility. The risk involved with these fields is immense. A botched plastic surgery could be devastating for the patient involved, whereas any misstep during a neurosurgical procedure could be a matter of life or death.
So, the level of expertise that is needed to research litigation cases involving them? It is a lot and an expert witness has to be meticulous when working a case.
The jury also values higher education, which is why attorneys prefer postgraduate specialists and consultants where possible. This is also why most specialized expert witnesses are paid better than general physician expert witnesses.
What’s The Expert Witness Landscape Looking Like?
Medical jurisprudence has seen a rise in the past decades or so, with more and more malpractice lawsuits and insurance claims coming through. So, employment for your average expert witness is also on an upward trajectory.
States such as California have one of the highest numbers of medical lawsuits per capita nationally, at a whopping 4634 reported cases in 2022. And nearly 32% of those malpractice claims were some form of misdiagnosis. Medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., so no wonder there are so many court cases ongoing.
But that also means that an expert physician will always be needed to clarify the facts regarding these complex cases. Yet, many expert witnesses don’t know how to take advantage of this.
One of the biggest ways expert witnesses lose out on opportunities is because they aren’t easy to get in touch with. Out of a pool of 1600 expert witnesses, only 46% said they get case inquiries through both phone and email. Which, well, if you aren’t checking your email regularly and answering your phone on time…
Even if you started fairly late in the game, being a physician expert can give you a quick boost in terms of your earnings if you just have the required experience. I’m talking a $100 – $2500 per hour kind of raise here, especially if you’re on top of the specialization food chain.
The best part is that there is a certain amount of flexibility when working as an expert witness. Yes, you’re putting in a lot of effort. However, a lot of the work as an expert physician can be done at home, with any transits to and from the courtroom covered by your retainer.
Final Thoughts
With the average pay so high, it’s not hard to see why more physicians are choosing to work as expert witnesses. The money is just too good to ignore.
While these payments can differ based on the various reasons we’ve mentioned above, it’s still a lucrative field that can benefit doctors in all phases of their careers.
