I have been actively involved in medico-legal practice since 1998 with extensive experience as a General Neurologist and Stroke Physician. I provide around 100 medico-legal reports per year; 50% plaintiff, 50% defendant and very few on the basis of joint instructions. I am on the Expert Witness and AVMA Registers. I have given evidence in Court three times in the last five years, including being cross examined for 8 hours at The Courts of Justice in the Strand. I am a contributing author (Neurology) to Clinical Negligence, Sixth Edition. Powers and Barton.
The fee I charge is £400 an hour plus VAT. My average fee is £1200-2000 plus VAT. If there is a great deal of correspondence it can be substantially higher. Once I have read all the notes I will send them back to the instructing Solicitors with my report. If I am subsequently asked supplementary questions which stem from any omission on my part, I will provide the answers gratis. However, if there is additional work involved, which could not be predicted from the original set of instructions, I will charge at my usual rate.
I expect to be paid within 8 weeks of seeing a client/producing a report or settlement of the case, whichever is sooner. When invoices remain unpaid beyond these limits I will add interest at 2.5 % per month plus the full cost of administrative, legal and other costs of recovering unpaid invoices. If the client fails to attend without sufficient notice there will be a £400 plus VAT cancellation fee payable by the instructing firm of Solicitors.
I can usually see clients in the evenings in Burton Joyce within 4 weeks. Please note that the Consulting Rooms do not yet have an accessible entrance or accessible W/C. Clients must bring a friend or family member to act as chaperone. There is plenty of on street parking available just outside (53a Main St, Burton Joyce, Nottingham NG14 5ED-just above the Post Office). The instructing solicitors can expect to receive my report within 10 working days of my seeing the client or if no examination required, receipt of the full set of records, barring holidays. The waiting list for domiciliary visits can be considerable longer eg months. I charge for domiciliary consultations, including travel time, at the same rate.
When I go to Court I charge £3200 plus VAT per day including travel time; if the day is longer than 8 hours then I charge for the additional time at my usual hourly rate. If the case settles within 7 days of the start of the trial I charge £800 plus VAT. If the case is cancelled with less than 48 hours notice I charge the full daily rate eg £3200 plus VAT.