Work Comp - lawyer issues - any help?

[Tenesma]

i have recently hiked my fees for testimony/depositions... primarily because i don't want to be bothered by lawyers anymore.... it has worked like a miracle... and when they do pay then i am handsomely rewarded for my time and inconvenience....

here is the problem: most lawyers (ie: work. comp clients) can't afford me and they are trying to get me to state for the court that the injuries are work related... so they send me affidavits that they want signed and notarized stating
1) that my medical records are accurate and true
2) that all of the injuries are related to the incident

First of all, i find this a slimy way to bypass the deposition phase especially since #2 is rarely true...

Second of all, correcting and then signing the affidavit and chasing down paperwork etc is a pain in the butt... can i charge them a fee? is it legal to charge a fee? how high should i push it?

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[Doctodd]

what are you charging?....i was told that if i am a contracted physician with the WC plan, then i can only bill about $200-300/hr by state law or as per the contract or something like that. But if i am not, i can bill whatever i want based on income lost for my time. I recently was paid $600 for being a factual witness.

Anyway, to your question, kind of what i was getting at above, i try to go around any and all potential state laws by charging an administrative fee that is separate from any other fee. I dont charge alot....just $25. But it will go up very soon since the trial period worked and it adds up. I charge for when my staff takes the time to pull any records too....that is on top of the per-page copy fee.