Just interested in what consultants do when they are booked to appear in court and then the appearance is cancelled at short notice (I had a text message at 5.30pm today to say that I would not be required tomorrow). Obviously, on many if not most occasions, it's out of the hands of the client there is nothing they could have done to avoid the situation. At the same time, if other work has been turned down in order to keep a date(s) clear, then there is an obvious opportunity cost.
Does this just go with the job or should a fee be charged?
If a commerical client of yours says "we need you all day next Thursday" you make yourself available and then they cancel on Wednesday afternoon, would you still charge them? You could charge them some sort of cancellation fee if you'd had this in your contract but I doubt they'd want to use you again in a hurry! Cancelled court appearances are similar IMO, it's just part of the territory. You could even use your unexpected 'free' day to do those things you've been putting off! wink
I always have work that can be done in a case like that. As long as I don't have to go to court and wait to see if I will be called, a cancellation is not something I would bill for. I would just take that clear day on my calendar and work on another case.
It is rare that I would have to turn down work due to a court appearance date. So far, in the last seven years, that has not occurred at all for me.
Usually, all work has some flexibility in the schedule.
To answer your question, I would not charge fees in a case like that. It just goes along with the territory. Such is the vagaries of court schedules.
Pat
Point 1 - keep the text as evidence the client knew you had been (a) engaged (b) you had been instructed to attend and ( c) the specific date - the latter being important as no other matter could have been undertaken at the same time.
Point 2 - Subject to what your terms and conditions state, the instructing party gave you expectation of work and no doubt you probably have not been able to take work anywhere else for tomorrow at short notice.
Point 3 - For civil work you can send them a bill as to what you believe you would have "reasonably" earned for the attendance, plus reduction for any non-travel, goodwill etc.
Point 4 - If it's a criminal case maybe look at the The * Costs in Criminal Cases (General) Regulations 1986 for guidance on cancellation fees. Without doubt 5.30pm close of business is NOT acceptable way to avoid liability of your costs.
*
I think if it were me I would be talking to those who instructed me first to lay the ground as to where I stood on the cancellation (e.g. OK thanks for the text message cancelling tomorrow's meeting, I will let you have my outstanding bill) - but I appreciate that you may have already thought of that.
Good luck
Unless I had travel or other costs associated with the appearance, I wouldn't charge them. As others, it is always assumed that hearings, pleadings and trials are at the whim of the court. You accept that with the territory.
Last year I had a case which involved travel to another state and where the trial was expected to last two weeks. I booked travel and lodging for the entire time but two days before the trial the parties settled out of court. I took whatever refunds I could get and billed them for what was not refundable but not for the potential lost revenue. That is the cost of doing business.
thanks for thee feedback.
Of course it's not just the day itself. It would be a pretty strange expert witness who did not spend some time before the case was due to pull out the relevant paperwork etc and go over the case background so the were well prepared for the court appearance.
thanks for thee feedback.
Of course it's not just the day itself. It would be a pretty strange expert witness who did not spend some time before the case was due to pull out the relevant paperwork etc and go over the case background so the were well prepared for the court appearance.
Billing for the review time is fair.
Ditto. Those are legitimate expenses.
I agree fully with trewmte.
You're not running a charity, you're running a business. Even when you cancel a doctor's appointment late, you will still be billed (if stipulated in the contract).
However, if this is not in your contract, it's just a lesson learned (and hopefully corrected already).
You're not running a charity, you're running a business. Even when you cancel a doctor's appointment late, you will still be billed (if stipulated in the contract).
The fee for canceling a doctor's appointment is typically unrelated to the cost of any medical procedure which would have been performed. If you cancel surgery, the surgeon, OR staff and hospital are not entitled to the fee that they would have received if you hadn't canceled. Moreover, the cancellation fee charged by most physicians is only invoked for those individuals who habitually cancel appointments. It is a punitive fee not an opportunity cost.
It is a fact of this business that, in most cases, one or both parties wants to avoid the cost of a trial (which includes the cost of expert testimony). In my own experience, more than 80% of my cases settle out of court and many within days of the scheduled start of the trial. To charge my client for what I might have might have made if they had gone to trial is punish them for arriving at an outcome that they may find desirable.
The attorneys are not entitled to the fees that they would have received if they had been in the courtroom. I don't see why this should be different for experts.