The drumbeat goes on. Over and over we hear the tales of doctors fleeing the
state to avoid outrageous malpractice premiums. And they blame the lawyers,
of course. Let’s look a little deeper and see whose hands could use a bit more
scrubbing.
Did you know that it is commonplace for doctors to charge literally thousands of
dollars for a few minutes of their time to testify in a legal case? I am working
on a case right now in which the doctor’s written policy calls for a charge of $3,000
for a one-hour deposition. For each additional hour or part thereof, he charges an
extra $2,000. That means that if his deposition takes one hour and one minute,
he expects to be paid $5,000.
If that’s not bad enough, this doctor also charges an additional $750 for any time
spent with the lawyer preparing for the deposition. P.S. If the deposition is
canceled “for any reason whatsoever, these fees are not refundable.”
These charges are ultimately the client’s responsibility, although typically the lawyer
will pay the doctor and only be reimbursed at the time of settlement or verdict. So
it’s not the lawyer who gets soaked, it’s the client.
Doctors’ depositions are typically taken in the doctors’ office, at a time that is
convenient to the doctor. This particular doctor charges $5,000 for a ½ day court
appearance and $10,000 for a full day appearance. Don’t believe me? I’ll be happy to
fax you this doctor’s written policy to prove it.
How do they get away with this? Simple. The doctors know that the client and lawyer
need them and have no good choice but to pay the freight. The only other option is for
the lawyer to refer the client to another doctor who charges less. This, unfortunately,
exposes the client and new doctor to devastating cross-examination at trial. The
opposing lawyer may suggest the client went shopping for a medical opinion because
the client’s first doctor did not believe the injuries were real.
I’ve got much more to say about doctors. But you’ll have to wait a bit for that. Stay
tuned for the next month’s post—Politician Heal Thyself!! I will reveal to you some
of the litigious exploits of some of our country’s biggest “tort reformers”. You won’t
want to miss my discussion of Dick Cheney’s first combat experience, shooting an
armed but elderly lawyer.
