The majority of consultants do not bill a different rate for travel out of the office. We can only assume that those individuals not charging for travel time either conduct little travel out of the office or all their travel is relatively close to the office. We also inquired as to whether or not experts charge a different fee for deposition and court appearances. Twenty-three individuals reported a different rate for depositions and 20 a different rate for court appearances. Review of the responses indicates that those who charge a different rate for depositions are the same ones charging a different rate for court appearances.
Some experts charge for being available on call to appear at court or depositions.
The survey indicates that this is not the general practice of consultants. The survey did not determine whether or not there is a different rate for being on call versus the standard billing rate. Presumably, the philosophy for charging to be available is that the consultant must cancel other activities to be available. This would seem to be particularly true of those in the medical profession who have office hours and patients which must be scheduled in advanced and cannot be quickly rescheduled should the court appearance be postponed. However, our review of the relationship between the area of specialization of the expert and their answering yes or no to this question showed no correlation with the medical profession.