How to Bill for Your Travel Time for Expert Witness Trial Testimony Days
Expert witness work can be a rewarding way for physicians to use their clinical expertise outside of direct patient care. But when a case requires travel for a deposition or trial, it also introduces a new layer of complexity: how do you fairly bill for the time you're spending away from your practice and your life, and account for lost opportunity costs?
It's a common question, and one that many physicians learn the hard way. Underbilling is easy to do, especially if you're new to this kind of work and aren't used to thinking about your time in these terms. Many physicians simply give lawyers an hourly rate that applies for all the work that they do for them, and forget to separate this out into a fee schedule that has different rates for chart review, depositions, and testimony, Below, we'll walk through a framework for billing your travel time, testimony days, and related expenses, based on advice shared by experienced expert witnesses in our online physician communities.
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Why it’s easy to underbill for travel time and opportunity costs as an expert witness physician
It's common for physicians who are new to expert witness work to underestimate just how much of their time a deposition or trial actually consumes, as well as the opportunity costs of taking time off of work in order to make it happen. Between travel, waiting around courthouses, prep work, and the testimony itself, these engagements can eat up entire days (or several days) of your life - and time away from your practice. Physicians in our communities who've done this work for years are consistent on one point: this time is genuinely pulling you away from your practice and your patients, and your billing should reflect that. What you make during this time should never be less than what you'd make clinically, and ideally more, given the disruption involved.
Bill door to door for travel related to trial testimony (and depositions if applicable)
One of the most consistent pieces of advice from experienced expert witnesses is to bill "door to door," meaning from the minute you leave your house to the minute you arrive at your lodging at your destination. This covers the entire travel day, not just time spent in the air or on the road.
If travel consumes a full day - or if it’s the reason that you’re not able to work clinically that day, many physicians advocate for billing a daily rate rather than itemizing hourly, often set as the equivalent of 8-10 hours at your hourly rate or what you make in a day working as a physician, whatever is greater. The same door-to-door approach applies to your return trip home.
What door-to-door billing for travel typically includes
Time from leaving your house to arriving at the airport or destination includes all time in transit (flights, driving, layovers), the time waiting at the airport before you take off, and the time from arrival at your destination to reaching your hotel. The same goes for the full return trip home.
Note that you should also be factoring in expenses separately, including:
Flight costs
Ground transportation, including rideshare services, taxis, and car rentals
Hotel
Parking
Other miscellaneous expenses related to your travel (checked bags, etc)
One nuance to sort out ahead of time: some physicians bill travel time at their deposition rate rather than their full trial or hourly rate. Clarify this with the retaining attorney upfront so there's no confusion later.
What not to bill for
While the goal is to bill fully and fairly, there are some limits. Most experienced expert witnesses agree you shouldn't bill for time spent sleeping or otherwise off the clock during an overnight trip. The idea is to capture the time that's genuinely being taken from you, not to pad the bill with hours you'd have spent resting regardless.
Bill door to door for testimony days
The same door-to-door principle applies on the day of your deposition or trial testimony. Track your time from the moment you leave your hotel, through all transit, any waiting at the courthouse, the testimony itself, and until you're back at your lodging.
If it turns out to be a full day (or again, precludes you from working that day), bill your daily rate. If the day runs especially long (8-12+ hours is a common threshold mentioned by physicians in our communities), consider adding overtime hours on top of your daily rate to reflect the additional burden of time you wouldn’t have worked in a normal workday.
Don't forget prep time and pretrial meetings
Travel and testimony days aren't the only time that deserves to be billed for related to trials. Physicians in our communities emphasized that your case review, your preparation time before testifying, and any pretrial meetings with the attorney should all be billed as well. It's easy to focus on the more obvious travel and testimony hours and forget to capture this preparation work, but it's just as much a part of the job.
Bill your expenses
As stated above, in addition to your time, make sure you're billing for the expenses associated with travel, including:
Airfare
Lodging
Ground transportation (Uber, taxi, rental car, mileage)
Meals
Any other incidental travel costs
Several physicians in our communities recommended trying to have the retaining attorney book and pay for airfare and lodging directly, if they're willing. This avoids you fronting the cost and also removes some of the risk if travel plans change unexpectedly.
Protect yourself financially before you travel
Because expert witness cases can settle or get postponed unexpectedly, and because you may have already blocked off clinical time, booked travel, or made other commitments, it's worth setting clear financial protections into your engagement terms before you agree to testify.
You may also want to purchase travel insurance in case plans de-rail and you need to book more expensive last minute travel to get there on time. Try to include these worst case scenarios in your contract.
Ideas physicians in our communities shared for protecting your time and income when having to testify for expert witness work
Collect a portion of anticipated trial billing upfront. Many physicians request roughly half of the anticipated total before travel, to avoid being left with an unpaid bill after the service has been provided. Consider a non-refundable advance or retainer, since cases can settle or get postponed at the last minute using the leverage of your scheduled deposition or trial testimony. Set a clear cancellation policy. For example, some physicians use a 10-business-day cancellation window, after which they keep the full fee if the engagement is canceled. Try to have the attorney pay directly for flights and hotel bookings, and establish a clear payment schedule tied to settlement or cancellation scenarios in advance, so there's no ambiguity about what happens if a case resolves the day before you're set to testify.
Tips for the day of testimony
As an aside, members of our communities often add additional pieces of advice on these threads about the actual testimonial day. from experienced physician expert witnesses on testifying itself, once you're actually in the room. These tips are similar to the ones we went over in our dedicated article about deposition tips for physicians, but the highlights are:
When answering questions, turn and speak to the jury directly.
Treat the jury like a patient you're explaining a clinical concept to, in plain language they can understand.
Remember that you are not the one on trial, even though it may feel that way, especially under questioning from opposing counsel.
Keep in mind that you likely know more about the subject matter than anyone else in the room. Lean on that expertise.
Conclusion
Expert witness work that requires travel is a real commitment of your time and energy, and comes with very real opportunity costs. It’s not just the hours you spend testifying, but the travel, the waiting, and the preparation that surrounds it. There are important steps you can take to both get compensated appropriately for all of this, as well as protect yourself from the unexpected aspects of trials, including cancellations, and using the checklist above based on the advice of your physician colleagues could be a great way to do both.
Related expert witness resources for physicians
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Related PSG resources:
Fact Witness vs. Expert Witness: Differences in Responsibilities and Pay
Common Questions Asked by Physicians Considering or Starting Expert Witness Work
What To Do if You’re Contacted by a Lawyer To Be an Expert Witness
How Much Physician Expert Witnesses Charge or Get Paid by Specialty, with Average Fees and Rates