This template is an expert retention agreement that can be used in a federal district court case. It contains drafting notes and optional clauses. An expert may be retained: • In advance of litigation to provide evaluative or consulting services • More commonly, after litigation has been commenced in order to provide opinion testimony in support of or opposition to a motion or at trial This template can be used for either testifying or consulting experts. In a few places, it includes optional clauses depending on the type of expert. For a discussion of the different types of experts, see Expert Witness Disclosures (Federal) and Expert Privilege and Confidentiality Checklist (Federal). This expert retention agreement is drafted as an agreement between the expert and the client. If you have agreed with your client to pay the expert's fees, simply include your name as the client. In practice, most experts will have a standard retention agreement in letter form that they will propose using, so you may need to negotiate or revise to reach agreement with the expert. For more about retaining experts, see Expert Retention Checklist (Federal).