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Category: Testimony

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Testimony

Creating a Fee Schedule for Expert Consultation and Testimony

(UPDATED 30 MARCH 2021)

I frequently get asked about setting fees for expert consultation and testimony. Particularly with nurses, I find that people are unsure of how to determine appropriate rates and are prone to undervaluing their worth. So I figured I’d write something up for those of you needing some guidance. These are absolutely my opinions, not hard and fast rules. When I looked to see what had been written on fees for experts there was very little out there relevant to nursing specifically, and where it involved criminal (vs. malpractice) trials, there was even less. We don’t talk about it much (people are squeamish about things involving money), and really, we should. So I’ll kick off the conversation…

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Testimony

Spotting Bad Science

Yesterday, NSVRC tweeted this infographic, and it pretty much made my morning (which may be a sad statement to make, I don’t know). I have added it to the Evaluating Research clinical guide; the PDF would make an excellent handout for a burgeoning journal club or staff meeting on currency of practice or testimony. Bonus: it’s also available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian.

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Articles of Note Child Abuse DV/IPV Elder Abuse/Neglect Sexual Assault Testimony

Articles of Note: May 2014

Man, am I tardy on this. Finally–once again here’s this (and last) month’s Articles of Note, a look at what has caught my eye from the recently published, peer-reviewed literature. There’s a lot of good stuff in this round up, so I would encourage you to peruse the abstracts. Keep in mind this isn’t a comprehensive list, just the things that interested me. Click through for the link:

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Testimony

Full-Text Friday: Nursing Is Not a Lesser Included Profession

I am on my way to Argentina, but wanted to leave you with a new full-text post before I jet off. This week’s offering is actually a law review article, and I post it because it’s an important perspective from the legal profession about a conversation we should be having more of (or really, just having since I don’t know that I’ve ever heard the topic mentioned in any formal way). Click through for details:

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Articles of Note Child Abuse DV/IPV Elder Abuse/Neglect Sexual Assault Testimony

Articles of Note: March 2014

Time once again for Articles of Note, our monthly round up of what’s new and notable in the peer-reviewed literature. There’s some really practice-specific research in here this time around, especially for those of you with sexual assault practices. As always this is neither exhaustive nor definitive, just what’s caught my eye in the last month. Contact me for the word doc if you want it. Otherwise, click through for the PDF:

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Sexual Assault Testimony

Full-Text Friday: The “It Could Never Happen” Edition

We’ve been talking this week about testimony and about research, so let’s end the week with the interface of the two. Our selection for this week’s Full-Text Friday is an oldy, and perhaps not really that much of a goody. The reason I include it then? Because it exists in the peer-reviewed literature, and as such, means that it cannot be ignored, even if it’s not particularly great science, and even if the results don’t appear to have been reproduced anywhere else. Click through for all of the details.

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Testimony

10 Things: Observations from Court

I spent a lot of time in trial in 2013. Probably more than any other year, in fact. In doing so, there are some issues I have noticed that come up repeatedly. I figured I’d share some of those today, particularly because it’s one of those things I’m asked to discuss pretty frequently when talking with medical folks about testimony. So for your reading pleasure, a new 10 Things list: Observations from Court:

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DV/IPV Sexual Assault Testimony

Since Last We Spoke 2/24/14

It was a pretty glorious weekend in DC, so much of my time was spent outside and unplugged. But my Twitter feed was exploding once I finally logged back on–here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke:

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Child Abuse DV/IPV Sexual Assault Testimony

Intimate Partner Violence Clinical Guide

I have been working on a project for many months now. As a part of that project I have put together a fairly large electronic library on IPV. I have taken that library, indexed it and modified it for FHO readers, because that’s the sort of thing people ask for. So if you click through you’ll find the newest Clinical Guide: Intimate Partner Violence. Not everything in this clinical guide is brand new, but I have tried to balance some of the old, but relevant, with some of the newer resources and science available. While this is the most extensive Clinical Guide to date, I make no claim that it is exhaustive–for instance, the project (on which the guide was based) focused on a specific patient population, so other populations and circumstances are most certainly under-represented here. Reader input and suggestions for additions to the guide are both wanted and appreciated. Keep in mind that there is plenty that would interest the non-clinician in this guide, but it was absolutely compiled with the practice of the forensic healthcare provider in mind.

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Testimony

Updated: Court Testimony Clinical Guide

There isn’t a more popular subject on this site than testimony, which is convenient in that it’s my favorite topic to discuss (well, one of them). So I have spent the morning updating the Court Testimony Clinical Guide. And in the coming weeks I am hoping to be able to share some pretty extensive reference guides, so stay tuned.

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Child Abuse Sexual Assault Testimony

Tips for Testifying in Child Abuse Cases

The Midwest Regional Children’s Advocacy Center is offering a webinar February 12th, Tips for Testifying in Child Abuse Cases. The session will be held from 1-3pm CT and it would appear that CEs are available for this one for both docs and nurses.

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Sexual Assault Testimony

Medical Forensic Sexual Assault Examinations: What Are They and What Can They Tell the Courts?

There are so many projects happening at any given time that sometimes you forget some of them actually get completed. So I was pretty happy to see one that is particularly near and dear to my heart come to fruition today. Legal Momentum‘s National Judicial Education Project just released their newest model curriculum, Medical Forensic Sexual Assault Examinations: What Are They and What Can They Tell the Courts? Information about the curriculum after the jump:

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Child Abuse Sexual Assault Testimony

Child Neglect: A Review

The Tribal Forensic Healthcare project’s pediatric webinar for December is Child Neglect: A Review. The session is being offered on December 2nd from 3-4:30pm ET and has CEUs available at no cost (CMEs have been applied for). Even if you don’t take care of AI/AN patients, these webinars are a great opportunity to enhance your skill set and get free CEs, so I encourage you to check them out.

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Articles of Note Child Abuse DV/IPV Sexual Assault Testimony

Articles of Note: November 2013

Time once again for this month’s Articles of Note, a look at what’s new in the peer-reviewed literature. Naturally this isn’t a comprehensive overview, but simply the research that has caught my eye recently. What follows is a list of articles with links; contact me if you’d like the information in a word doc.

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Sexual Assault Testimony

Courtroom Testimony in Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Cases

I’ve had a lot of questions this week about availability of testimony training for people who were unable to attend the conference, and I have been directing folks to the upcoming webinar, Courtroom Testimony in Adult/Adolescent Sexual Assault Cases. The excellent Tara Henry will be teaching it for the Tribal Forensic Healthcare project on November 19th from 3-4:30 ET and CEUs are available (CMEs have been applied for).

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Child Abuse DV/IPV Sexual Assault Testimony

Since Last We Spoke, 9/23/13

A Happy Monday to you all (or Tuesday for my subscribers who get this one day late)–I am finally back from Japan after a longer-than-anticipated trial and am thrilled to be home for the next 5 days. Hopefully some of you will be joining my colleague Jen Sommers and me on Wednesday for our webinar (a very clinically-focused session). And  speaking of that webinar: a special congratulations to a member of our IHS project team–Sarah had her baby on Saturday–Noah James. If you’ve seen the photos on Facebook than you can back me on this–she grew herself a good looking baby boy.

I put in some long days in Japan, but had plenty of time to read while jet lagged out of my skull this morning, so here’s what I’ve been checking out since last we spoke:

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Sexual Assault Testimony

When There Is No Science to Support Your Opinion

In the course of doing this work, I come across a lot of expert opinions, given by both physicians and nurses. Some of those opinions are well reasoned and supported by current science and clinical experience. Some of those opinions fall into the category I formally call, “making some s*@t up”. Opinions delivered under the latter category aren’t necessarily delivered with the intent to deceive. A lot of times these opinions are simply based on what the professional believes should be true, rather than what research has affirmed.

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Sexual Assault Testimony

UPDATED: Consensual Sex Injury Research Grid

The single most read item on this site is now the consensual sex injury research grid. I try to be vigilant with maintaining it, because in adult sexual assault cases, there probably isn’t a more important body of research (in my opinion, at least). So a new study on the issue means a new update. Click on the link to download and/or print the full grid. Research is listed from oldest to newest.

Consensual Sex Injuries revised 6-13

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Testimony

Testifying to an Opinion: A Flow Chart

I spend a lot of time thinking about expert testimony. I know it can be intimidating, but as with so much in healthcare, it’s a skill that can be developed and fine-tuned. However, in order to achieve competence it’s important to understand the fundamentals. My hope is that what I’ve created here is a usable tool for individual practitioners and those of you providing education to others on this topic. Feel free to share.

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Testimony

Court (The Reality)

We spent the day talking about testimony. One of the things we discussed was that sometimes the experience looks a lot more like Night Court than Law and Order. One of my new favorite Tumblrs has a similar take on the difference between the common perception of court and the reality of court.

Thank you, Fort Bragg for a wonderful day. See you in September.