How are forensic psychiatrists paid?
In most cases, forensic psychiatrists charge an hourly fee for work with attorneys or courts. Occasionally, they work by contract to a court or other public agency. Flat fees or pre-set numbers of hours, while not unethical per se, are sometimes discouraged, since they may inappropriately limit the depth of one s involvement in a case and lead to insufficient information for accurate opinions. Fees or reimbursement which are tied to the outcome of a case (e.g., contingency fees) are strictly unethical in our profession.
