Fees of Psychiatric Experts
The good news is there are a lot of highly qualified psychiatric experts in the country. The downside is the fees of psychiatric experts are often high.
To grasp the cost of an expert witness of practically any type, one need only step back and consider who is being hired. As the name suggests, we are talking about an expert in a particular field. With expertise comes a certain fee.
Most psychiatric experts charge fees that are dependent upon their geographic location. A psychiatric expert witness in Beverly Hills is going to charge fee of $300 an hour or more without batting an eyelid. A similar expert in Huntsville, Alabama is going to charge a fraction of this.
Is either of them wrong to charge so much? Not really. The hourly fee is typically based on the living expenses of a particular area. Obviously, Beverly Hills is one of the more expensive areas in the country, and the fees of the expert reflect that.
It should be noted that some attorneys view the hourly rate of a psychiatric expert witness as part of the credibility. This means the higher the charges, the more “expertly” the witness looks. This is good for experts, but a bit controversial with the clients that have to pay them.