Advice from the Fast Lane: Travel Hours & Expenses

By Noah Bolmer 

While remote work becomes more and more common for expert witnesses, there are still occasions where you may be asked to travel. It is important to consider this before it happens, so that you’re ready with a fair billing method. Some experts enjoy travel and do not bill for it at all, preferring to fill their time with other work, sleeping, or reading. Others feel that the inconvenience should always incur some (potentially reduced) charge.

If you have a particular need (e.g., you are too tall for a coach seat, or you cannot fly, necessitating land-based travel), make sure to include those needs in your engagement letter, so that the client isn’t surprised later. In this article, our experts share their strategies for managing travel expenses. 

Dr. Seth Miller: Utilizing Varied Rates 

Getting started in expert witnessing is a matter of accepting an engagement. Understanding the particulars of getting reimbursed for travel is another matter. Getting help was invaluable for chemistry expert Dr. Seth Miller:  

I knew that expert witnesses were paid well, but I had no idea how any of it worked. I didn’t know what a retainer was. I didn’t know how travel would be taken care of. None of those things made sense to me. I got advice from a guy who I was working with as a consultant who was much more mercenary than I, and [he] helped me negotiate the initial contract.  

Dr. Miller finds a varied approach to travel expenses works best for him, including half-time, flat-fee days, etc.:  

For travel, I charge at half time. I don’t want to say that you can ship me off to South Korea, and you’re not going to pay for the flight. That doesn’t seem right. [But] if all goes well, I will be sleeping on that flight [. . .] Charging at half time represents a useful compromise. The one term I’ve had to negotiate or put in front of folks now at the outset, is if there’s a trial, and you need me to be somewhere—and testimony gets delayed—then I get paid a daily rate for sitting in a hotel wherever it is. If it’s in Newark, fine. If it’s in Times Square, it’s even better. […] Jury trials will move at the pace jury trials move. The first time this happened, and I didn’t have terms everyone understood it was, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it.” That [was…] a learning experience. 

Not all travel is equal. He continues:  

Everybody’s different and special. For example, when I was sent to South Korea for a case to be able to work on site, the good news was that the lawyers were like, “We’re doing business travel.” I was like, you’re not shipping me into South Korea and expect me to work the next day if I haven’t had a place to lie down. I suck at sleeping on planes, but I suck less when I’m in business class. I’m not a travel snob for domestic travel; I’ll fly by coach if you need me to fly by coach. If I’m flying from LA to New York a lot, I might ask for something better. I don’t think anybody cares if you pay for the extra leg room. It’s all negotiable. I don’t notice. I open my laptop and work. 

Laura DuPriest: Avoid Double-Billing 

Since the pandemic, travel has lessened—but not halted—according to forensic cosmetology expert Laura Dupriest: 

[S]ince COVID, many courts and judges allow Zoom testimony and Zoom depositions, so travel has been less. I will say in larger cases involving business disputes, patent cases, and things like that, there is still an in-presence need for all trials and depositions. 

When you’re using a plane as a flying office, it is important to carefully manage your accounts to avoid double-billing. She continues:  

I will talk about the travel fee in my contracts. There’s a dollar-per-hour fee for air travel. If I’m traveling in the air and I am working on and studying for a different case, I won’t bill the original attorney for my travel. I never double-bill. I’m careful about that. I don’t bill for the time in the hotel. I’m easygoing because, obviously, I have other things that I can do. Travel is billed as stated in the contract per hour—a lesser fee, of course, than expert testimony. I am responsible for my travel arrangements. All the travel you arrange is on a refundable basis in case the case settles. Then you add that to your billing once travel has concluded. 

Michael Maxwell: The Ease of the Flat Fee 

Keeping it simple works for real estate expert Michael Maxwell: 

I have a range of fees that I feel are fair, and they’re generally accepted. I charge a flat fee per day to travel. In other words, if I’m traveling, you will pay me a set amount of money [plus] my expenses. I don’t do first class unless you want me to—but at the same time, I don’t charge for my time other than that flat fee. If we’re going to be engaged the next day in our trial, deposition or whatever—that’s when the hours start accumulating again—but a flat fee per day plus reimbursable expenses is the easiest way to do it. 

Dr. Stephen Cohen: Always Bill Travel at the End 

Medical legal expert Dr. Stephen Cohen keeps his travel expenses fairly minimal:  

The way I handle travel is [my] expenses are paid by the hiring attorney to fly me out and stay in a hotel. I don’t eat much. I’m usually in my fasting stage so I don’t eat, and that saves everybody money. Usually, the side that retains me will pay for travel. 

Normally, travel expenses are billed afterward. [. . .L]ast year, they wanted me to fly in on Tuesday, which I did in the evening, to testify on Wednesday. Then, I was going to leave Wednesday night to go back home. What do you think happened? On Wednesday, they couldn’t get me on the court, and I had to stay a full day the next day. Then, I couldn’t get out that night and had to stay until Friday. All the travel has to be billed afterward because the attorneys don’t have any control over the order, how long it takes to pick the jury, and the judge wanting to take a break. Other things are going on. It’s a challenge. 

Choose a travel billing strategy that works for you and is fair to the engaging party. Ask for upgrades where appropriate to remain fresh and ready, but don’t expect a vacation. Avoid double billing, make careful records, and make sure the engagement agreement addresses reimbursement.  

For over 30 years, Round Table Group has been connecting litigators with skilled and qualified expert witnesses. If you are interested in being considered for expert witness opportunities, contact us at 202-908-4500 for more information or sign up now!