Q: Is it legal for a attorney to inform a client that they have to pay for a physician’s deposition in his trial .
I have a workers comp case headed to trial after 24 months. The day of the facilitation hearing after I turned down the offer my attorney informed me that I would have to pay for a physician’s testimony the deposition for my trial. He then told me I had 30 days to come up with the money or my case would be dismissed. Is this legal?
A: Expert witnesses like physicians are typically compensated for their time testifying in legal proceedings by the party they are testifying for. This is true whether they testify live or by deposition. It is commonly necessary for such an expert to testify in cases involving a bodily injury to establish the element of causation. Without evidence of causation, an injured party often loses their case. A party’s refusal to pay a doctor for their testimony often makes the doctor unwilling to testify as an expert.
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