Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
saving money on expert witness and a legal bill auditing program
Is there any books, websites,ect on how to save money on legal expert witness fees, clauses to protect the consumer in order to save the money and have the client's rights protected? Is there any computer program that enables clients to bill review/audit thier lawyer? If a client has a seprate retainer contract with the expert witness will the client be liable for the fees or the attorney? Is it common to have a seprate retainer contract with an expert witness? Can a non appearing expert witness sucessfully win cases? What is the likelyhood of this?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: saving money on expert witness and a legal bill auditing program
Sorry question to complicated to answer.
Re: saving money on expert witness and a legal bill auditing program
Whew. Sounds like a mouthful. I'm not sure what you mean by a "non-appearing" expert witness. The witness should be prepared both for deposition and trial, if necessary, and assume that that will be the case. If the expert is not prepared, then why retain (or pay) the expert in the first place?
I know of no books on how to save money on experts. Often, a lawyer will want the client to contract directly with the expert so that the lawyer will not be on the hook for the expert's fees, but the client will be.
As far as monitoring the lawyers bills, I know of no software. However, if you have questions about any bill, you should immediately bring them to the attorney's attention, and don't let your questions linger, thereby souring your relationship with the lawyer. Good luck to you!