Subpoenas:
I may be requested to appear in court to discuss my work on your case. Please note, if acting in the capacity of a parent coordinator or a custody evaluator, I do not automatically appear at your hearing or trial. Should you request my presence at your hearing as either a fact witness or an expert witness, your attorney will need to issue me a subpoena and as a professional, I expect to be compensated for my time. Billing for my time takes into consideration many factors, such as potential therapy practice income loss for clients that must be rescheduled during the time I am in court, travel time to get to court, updates & reports to the court, and courtroom waiting time. I require a minimum of 21 days’ notice in order for me to clear my schedule to attend the hearing.
Charges for preparation time prior to a hearing:
In order to provide my best testimony for your hearing or trial, I do charge appropriately for my time spent in preparation for your case, such as compiling notes, reviewing documents, reports & correspondence, etc. To be properly prepared, I set aside a minimum of two hours to review the work I completed on your case prior to the hearing or trial. You will be charged for at least 2 hours of preparation work in addition to my time spent waiting in court to testify as I observe the hearing and my time testifying.
Travel Costs:
I do provide work all over the state and am willing to travel in order to provide testimony. I do have offices in Rapid City & Pierre and do not charge mileage if I am within the local area. If I am required to travel outside of Pierre or Rapid City to attend a hearing, I will be compensated at a rate of $.70/mile in addition to you will be billed the $250/hour rate for every hour of drive time to and from court. This amount will be deducted from your deposit that will be sent to me within 14 days prior to the hearing or trial.
Custody Evaluation Testimony Fees:
I strive to write my reports in a manner that allows detailed explanations of my work and clear-cut recommendations about what I believe are the appropriate recommendations for your children. Once my report is submitted to the Court and the attorneys, my work as a custody evaluator ends. Should you decide to subpoena me to testify about my work at your hearing, my role then changes to that of an expert witness and you will be charged for my testimony. I require a $2000 deposit to be submitted to me at minimum of 14 days before I am called to testify. In order to be prepared for your hearing, I require 2 hours of preparation time prior to the hearing to review my notes, details about the case and my report.
Parent Coordination Testimony Fees:
If I am required to attend a hearing for a parent coordination case, I require a $2000 retainer to be sent to me 14 days prior to the hearing. If the parties need to be billed 50/50 for the retainer, please let me know that ahead of time. This fee is not included in your normal parent coordination pricing agreement. If I am subpoenaed to court and am waiting or observing the hearing, my rate is $250/hour. If I am called to provide testimony, you will be billed at the rate of $250/hour.
Remaining credit balances owed after the conclusion of a hearing:
If a refund is owed, I will mail a check within 10 days after the conclusion of the trial.
If a balance is owed at the conclusion of a hearing, the parties will be issued a bill within 14 days notifying them of the balance owed and that payment is required within 30 days.
Cancellation of a trial:
Your deposit prior to court must be received prior to 14 days of when your trial is scheduled. Occasionally, the parties will reach an agreement through their attorneys and will decide to cancel their court trial. If your trial is cancelled in less than 48 hours of the date it was scheduled to be held, you will only receive 50% of your deposit back. Please note, that as a professional who was subpoenaed to be at your trial, I was required to cancel therapy clients, groups, and other meetings that I generate income from to be available to you for your case. In such short notice, I often cannot fill those appointment slots that were reserved for you, so I do expect to be compensated for the time that was allocated for your case. If I have already spent the two hours preparing for your case when it is cancelled, your refund will be 50% minus the 2 hours of preparation time I spent on the case already.
***If your trial is canceled in more than 48 hours and no preparation time was spent on the case, I will be happy to issue you a check refund for the full amount of your retainer deposit.