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Medical knowledge paired with courtroom drama can be a fascinating combination for many doctors, who describe expert witness work as interesting and well-paid. Doing this work has its pros and cons, but could this be a fruitful side gig for you?

About 39% of physicians work side gigs, according to Medscape’s Physicians and Side Gigs Report 2025. Of those, the most popular (35%) involve medical support work, which includes expert witness, chart review, and training.

Working as an expert witness typically starts with doing a chart review for the case and may continue through giving depositions or appearing in court if a case goes to trial.

“I enjoyed doing it and it was also a learning experience,” said Richard S. Nitzberg, MD, a vascular and general surgeon in Summit, New Jersey, who has done expert witness work for several years.

“You learn where people go wrong; you see mistakes and you try to avoid them yourself,” Nitzberg said. “It was also a little bit of extra income.”

The most common types of expert witness work involve malpractice cases and injury cases, said James J. Mangraviti, Jr, JD, principal at SEAK, a company that trains professionals to be expert witnesses.

“The most common things doctors will testify on are malpractice cases involving standard of care — did another doctor make a mistake and did that mistake cause harm — and personal injury cases — what’s wrong with this person and did the injury cause it,” Mangraviti said.

What’s Required From Doctors Doing This Work?

Typically, insurers or an attorney will request a medical expert for expert witness work, said Selena Ecker, director of Expert Recruitment with North American Consultants, which connects experts with legal defense teams for physician reviews and independent medical exams. The company will send those requests to physicians for review, along with any accident report, police report, photos, and patient treatment records.

The physician examines those records to review what’s within their scope of practice, as well as ambulance reports or emergency department medical records as part of the plaintiff’s history.

The physician will then write a report with an opinion based on those records, Ecker said.

Some cases may also require the physician to conduct an independent medical exam. Doctors are compensated for travel expenses.

Must a Doctor Appear at Court?

“If the case is prelitigation, normally the physician won’t have to appear at court,” said Ecker. “Everyone generally hopes the case will settle before court. However, that doesn’t always happen.”

Appearing at depositions or trial could be in person, or via Zoom, said Ecker. “Some physicians say they won’t appear in person; they’ll happily do a video or zoom call but won’t appear in court. We just need to know that ahead of time.”

To be successful as an expert witness, you must be able to persuade a jury, said Ecker.

“We tell doctors, just remember you’re talking to the average person on the street,” said Ecker. “Try not to use your medical terminology…speak like you’re speaking to your patient.”

“Physicians must also be prepared to defend their opinions when cross-examined in court or in depositions.” said Ecker.

“You don’t need training to be an expert witness, but it’s a very good idea because you’ll be in an adversarial situation,” Mangraviti said. “The opposing attorney will try to make you look like a babbling fool. People who do well at this work get repeat business.”

For some doctors, being in court and talking to the jury is one of the satisfying parts of the job.

“I liked being up on the stand,” said Nitzberg. “I’m a bit of a ham; I like being up in front of people and I think I can compose myself fairly well. So I really enjoyed it.”

How Much Can You Earn?

Physicians may get paid separately for the chart review and for appearing at depositions and trial. Payment varies by specialty, time spent, and the fee schedule of various organizations.

“For chart review, some doctors take 2 hours to review 300 pages of records; others go more slowly or have a more complex case and say it will take them 4 hours,” she said.

Ecker described her company’s payment schedule: “For appearing in court, you can receive either a flat fee or a per hour rate, typically based on specialty,” said Ecker.

“For deposition and trial, she normally offers a retainer up front because the doctor has to take off work.” Ecker said typical retainers can range from $5000 for a half day or $10,000 for a full day.

The absolute minimum amount a board-certified doctor should charge doing this work is $500 an hour, Mangraviti said, rising to $1500 an hour for a specialty like neurosurgery.

One benefit of this work is that doctors are actually paid what their time, experience, and education are worth, he added.

Nitzberg said of some doctors he knows who do frequent expert witness work, “they earn hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.”

“I wasn’t taking every case offered to me; I usually made between $60,000 to $80,000 a year from this work,” he said.

How to Find Expert Witness Opportunities

Some specialists are called for expert witness work more than others.

“Orthopedic surgeons, pain management specialists, and radiologists are probably the top specialties in demand,” said Ecker. “We also get requests for internal medicine and gynecology. But don’t count any specialty out.”

Physicians can join the panel of experts at North American Consultants to be considered for upcoming cases, Ecker said.

“No additional certification is needed as long as your medical license is active.”

For physicians who want training, SEAK offers four continuing medical education courses relevant to expert witness work, covering the basics of expert witness work; malpractice law; writing the expert report; and testifying skills.

“It’s easy to write a report at a mediocre level or to testify at a mediocre level; we teach you how to do it at a very high level,” said Mangraviti. Each course costs about $1500 and can generally be taken either in person or online. Mangraviti said that physicians who excel at these skills tend to get more work via word-of-mouth recommendations.

Networking also helps physicians find expert witness work, as well as doing an internet search for insurance companies or law firms seeking expert witnesses, Ecker suggested.

Pros and Cons

“Not everybody is going to be good at expert witness work,” said Mangraviti. “You need to have a thick skin. You’ll be asked pointed questions and you’ll be dealing with lawyers and they can be difficult.”

Most doctors find this work intellectually engaging, Mangraviti said. “Doctors also learn how to avoid making the same mistakes that other doctors are making, and so they can better protect themselves.”

“It’s a lot of work,” said Nitzberg. “I’d come home and do the work nights or weekends. It requires you to look at everything; you have to be very diligent. The times I had to get an expert report out, I’d have to pull everything together and make it coherent, and it’s not easy.”

Nitzberg said he was very selective about which cases he agreed to do. “I felt you can’t put yourself in a situation where you say things that you don’t believe in or can’t be false,” he said. “I recommend you have to be very honest and have to look at it from the standpoint of ‘I’m going to be up on a stand and I don’t really want to say anything that is not true. You have to [be] 100% consistent with what you believe and how you practice and what you say.”

Physicians and experts quoted in this story reported having no disclosures.