When your services have been retained, you will be notified via email by your Expert Institute team. This notification will indicate to you that we have provided the attorney with your direct and preferred contact information. At this point, you should assume that the attorney will plan to contact you directly in order to begin the engagement. Please make sure to check your Spam folder.
Please note, every attorney has a different timeline for their case, and it may be some time before the attorney contacts you to initiate the review.
Once the attorney reaches out to initiate the engagement, Expert Institute recommends that you work to establish expectations for communication with the attorney. These expectations should include a preferred method and cadence of communication, as well as clarity on which party is responsible for scheduling follow-up conversations. Additionally, the attorney will establish how many records require review and what the scope of work will be related to any inspections or independent medical examinations. The attorney will outline whether an expert witness report is needed and make any deadlines known. At this stage, it will be relevant to discuss any pertinent deadlines that you should be aware of for your work.
EI additionally recommends that you draft a retainer agreement to outline terms and conditions for the attorney-expert witness relationship. This retainer agreement should touch on the following items:
- Your preferred method of receiving records to review (Workspace, paper copies, via thumb drive, via Dropbox, etc.)
- Expectations for advance notice of pending deadlines
- Establish a cancellation policy should your work no longer be needed
- Discuss travel requirements and related fees (hourly rate for travel time, etc.)
- Determine whether compensation will be by retainer
- Establish a payment cadence – this is particularly important for lengthier cases that require periodic billing statements
- Decide on the form of payment
- Provide W-9 forms and/or tax ID number