Yes, much experience Andy, but it's very difficult to know which agency, or
directory, actually produces the best exposure. I'm a bit dubious about
Expert Witness; they're a Manchester based company who push a very hard
sell, they've messed up my details in the past and I've yet to receive a
definite instruction from their marketing (although one cannot be absolutely
sure where your instructing solicitor etc found your details in the first
place). I've never heard of The Registration Council of Medical Experts
before, and that alone makes me a bit suspicious! There are three recognised
expert witness "bodies" in the UK, and that certainly isn't one of them.
There is however no established "registration" process or "council" for
expert witnesses, so the name itself is highly suggestive of hyperbole.
However if I had to choose one, I'd go for the UK Directory of Expert
Witnesses. They're relatively affordable (typically around £100 rather than
£250) but produce more definite "exposure"; and the criminal lawyers also
use this source, if you're interested in that line of work.
As a general rule, direct marketing is incredibly difficult, and most firms
now specialise and hold databases of preferred experts. These experts are
generally proven by track record and word-of-mouth, which is a typical Catch
22 situation for the newcomer to break into! However, the criminal firms
tend to only occasionally require an expert, and so are much more likely to
duck into a directory to find one. Same goes for refugee/asylum seeker work.
The personal injury and medical negligence lawyers, on the other hand, tend
to stick with their trusted experts over many years.
I still "market" in a few directories; I figure that if you get just one
instruction then it pays for itself, although I've stopped using many of
them now as my business "markets itself", if you see what I mean. However,
if you're genuinely interested in establishing yourself in the field, then I
suspect you've little choice but to use this type of marketing to begin
with.
I hope this is helpful,
Adrian Fogarty
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 10:17 PM
Subject: Medicolegal companies
> Does anyone have any experience of working with these Medicolegal
> "booking agencies" such as "The Registration Council of Medical Experts"
or
> "Expert Witness". Both are marketing heavily at the moment and are happy
to
> take a sizable registration fee to put you on their database.
> I am thinking of pushing my minute medicolegal practice along a bit but am
> reluctant to give hard earned cash (I am from Yorkshire!) to these folks
> and am more keen to do a touch of targeted marketing which is probably
> cheaper.
> Not academic or particulalry political but some of you are likely to be
> more knowledgable on this subject.
>
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