Hiring of Expert Witness

If we do not have the expertise in house, can we hire someone to come in to testify on our behalf? I reviewed an older Federal Appropriations Law Course Book and didn't see any mention of this.

JLchief55,

The Government frequently uses outside expert witnesses in litigation. I assume the witnesses receive remuneration from appropriated funds--how else would they get paid? But I confess I don't know that for a fact.

Joel or Vern may have a more definitive answer for you.

The only place I've seen this addressed is in FAR 6.302-3 (a)(2)(iii) to acquire the services of an expert or neutral person for any current or anticipated litigation or dispute. The DoD FMR only discusses the Equal Access to Justice Act, as far as I can find.

Yes, this would be a normal cost of the agency's operations and you would use the appropriation to pay for the expert.

It depends on which agency is handling the litigation. The Department of Justice generally handles litigation for the government before federal courts.

DOJ receives a ?Fees and Expenses of Witnesses? appropriation that provides ?funding for all fees and expenses associated with the provision of testimony on behalf of the Federal Government. Specifically, there are two types of witnesses that are compensated under the provisions of this activity. Fact witnesses testify as to events or facts about which they have personal knowledge?. Expert witnesses provide technical or scientific testimony and are compensated based on negotiations with the respective Federal Government attorney.?

See, http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/2009justification...stification.doc.

Because there is a specific appropriation for this activity, a more general agency appropriation should not be used to pay for the expert witness. I?ve encountered DOJ attorneys (usually in US Attorney?s Office) that are not familiar with this appropriation (or perhaps they are under pressure to keep costs down) and try to get the agency to foot the bill.

Arguably, the broad language of the appropriation, i.e., ?For fees and expenses of witnesses, for expenses of contracts for the procurement and supervision of expert witnesses,? would suggest that DOJ is always responsible for hiring expert witnesses. However, in practice, DOJ pays only when it is handling the litigation.

If a witness is needed for administrative litigation, such as a Board of Contract Appeals, and DOJ is not involved, the witness fee is usually considered just another litigation expense to be paid by the agency out of whatever appropriation is funding the litigation.