Expert Witnesses Needed

The Veterinary Medical Board is recruiting California licensed veterinarians to serve as expert witnesses for the Board’s enforcement program.  Expert witnesses play a very important role in consumer protection.  Board experts provide consultation to staff, review case materials, prepare written opinions, and, when necessary, testify at administrative hearings.

An expert witness is a licensee possessing appropriate technical or professional knowledge gained through advanced education and/or extensive work experience that enables the individual to form a definite opinion in the area of the standard of care for the profession.  In order to serve as an expert witness, you must:

• Possess a current, active, and unrestricted Board-issued veterinarian license.
• Have clinical experience in five (5) of the seven (7) years immediately preceding the date of contracting to provide expert services for the Board in the practice type in which the SME is opining.
• Not have past or current enforcement or disciplinary actions taken against their California veterinarian license.

Expert witnesses are reimbursed for their services at the rate of $75.00 per hour for record review, report preparation, conferring with the Attorney General’s office, and testimony (maximum $300 per day), plus mileage and parking.

In addition to general practitioners, the Board is particularly interested in recruiting as expert witnesses veterinarians with the following board certifications/specializations:

• Dermatology
• Internal Medicine (Cardiology, Oncology)
• Ophthalmology
• Radiology
• Surgery
• Zoological Medicine
• Dentistry
• Avian Medicine
• Exotic Medicine

Licensees interested in serving the Board as an expert witness are encouraged to complete the Expert Witness Application form and mail it to the Veterinary Medical Board Expert Witness Program at 1747 N. Market Blvd., Ste. 230, Sacramento, CA 95834.