DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Legal Newsline) – A Florida appeals court has deemed the issue of payment to expert witnesses as one of great public importance.
In doing so on Nov. 6, it certified a question to the Florida Supreme Court to answer. That question is: “Whether the analysis and decision in Worley should also apply to preclude a defense law firm that is not a party to the litigation from having to disclose its financial relationship with experts that it retains for purposes of litigation, including those that perform compulsory medical examinations under Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.360.”
St. Augustine Surgical is fighting a medical malpractice lawsuit and their lawyers were ordered to disclose the amount of money it has paid to retained trial experts in the case over the last three years.
The Fifth District refused to grant any relief to the lawyers, Wicker Smith of Orlando. But it also wanted clarification of a 2017 decision, Worley v. Cent. Fla. Young Men’s Christian Ass’n.
That ruling held that a personal injury law firm that referred its clients to a specific physician was not required to disclose their referral or financial relationship because the law firm is not a party to the litigation.