Geiers Sue OAP Petitioners' Attorneys For $600,000 · 2011-05-08 15:30

Dr. Mark Geier and his son, David Geier have filed suit against the Petitioners’ Steering Committee of the Omnibus Autism Proceeding and the law firm of Williams, Love, O’Leary & Powers, P.C., which coordinated PSC activities, demanding $600,000 allegedly owed for consulting services in vaccine injury and civil litigation.

The lawsuit, filed in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland, on April 26, 2011 — one day before Dr. Geier’s license to practice medicine was summarily suspended by the Maryland Board of Physicians — asserts two breach of contract claims against both the PSC and the law firm pertaining to services provided by Dr. Geier; two breach of contract claims against both the PSC and the law firm pertaining to services provided jointly by father and son; and one claim of unjust enrichment by Mark Geier against the law firm. Contracts at issue include a September 18, 2003 consulting agreement between Mark Geier and the defendants, and an October 8, 2004 agreement including David Geier.

In the complaint, Dr. Geier is described as “a physician who is engaged in the practice of medicine, a medical researcher, and provider of expert consultative services and testimony,” and his son David Geier as “an individual who is engaged in the business of helping to provide health-care services, a medical researcher, and provider of expert consultative services.” The complaint further details the hourly fees charged by Dr. and Mr. Geier:

For work related to Vaccine Compensation Act claims:

• $250 per hour for reading time and time spent by Mark and David Geier in their home or office;
• $300 per hour for time spent away from home, including travel and work time but excluding sleep time;
• $400 per hour for time spent giving depositions or other testimony;
• $ 55 per hour for secretarial support; and
• reimbursement of all expenses.
For work related to civil litigation:

• $325 per hour for reading time and time spent by Mark and David Geier in their home or office; and
• $300 per hour for time spent away from home, including travel and work time but excluding sleep time.

The Geiers allege that the defendants agreed to compensate them “on a timely basis regardless of the timing or outcome of any settlement, litigation, or contemplated litigation,” and claim to have regularly submitted invoices, all of which remain unpaid. They demand $600,000, plus 6% prejudgment interest, costs, and a jury trial.

Although included in the original roster of experts filed by the PSC in February 2006, Dr. Geier was not called upon to testify in any of the “test case” hearings.

A scheduling hearing in Geier v. Petitioners’ Steering Committee (Case 346884V) will be held on July 29, 2011.

Comments


  1. So, was David Geier (BA in biology) ALSO to be paid $250 – $400 an hour for his “expert” testimony?

    Seriously?

    I only ask because I’m about to post a position for a lab tech with a BS in biology and I wanted to know if this was the “prevailing rate” for someone with a bachelor’s degree in biology (in which case, I’m getting SERIOUSLY underpaid for my doctoral degree).

    Strangely enough, my contact in the HR dept. advised me that the “going rate” for someone with a BS (not a BA, but a BS) degree was a LOT less than that. Maybe I’m in a “low-wage” area?

    If the truth be told, $400 an hour for MARK Geier seems a bit steep, especially since he’s been humiliated in every court he’s appeared in for the past decade or more. What must it be like to pay that much for someone to give “expert” testimony that the JUDGE tells you is worthless?

    Prometheus

    — Prometheus    2011-05-08 16:14    #

  2. Presumably so; the complaint doesn’t differentiate between the amount to be paid for services provided by Dr. Mark Geier and services provided by Non-Dr. David.

    The PSC may have been mistaken about the cause of autism, but obviously they’re not stupid.

    — Kathleen Seidel    2011-05-08 16:22    #

  3. If memory serves, this team recently tried to get the vaccine court to pay for their trips to Europe. Quite expensive trips.

    The court has been more and more critical of the team and has subjected their expense reports to close scrutiny. Many of their expenses have been denied or reduced. They’ve been caught trying to double bill, if I recall correctly.

    I’ve seen less of them in the decisions for the court lately.

    I have to admit to speculating as to whether the Geier team sees the writing on the wall: their days as an “expert” witness and son are over.

    — Matt Carey    2011-05-08 17:44    #

  4. Your memory serves right; you’re thinking about Riggins v. HHS, in which Geier père et fils tried to stick the court for the cost of trips to France and Italy, supposedly necessary because they supposedly needed to engage in face-to-face conversations with other doctors and lawyers engaged in vaccine-injury litigation. Perhaps the bills they submitted to the PSC reflected the same "complete abdication of billing judgment" that led Special Master Golkiewicz to rake them and Clifford Shoemaker over the coals.

    — Kathleen Seidel    2011-05-08 18:28    #

  5. There’s a level of pig headed arrogance with the Geier’s, like Wakefield that I find impossible to fathom. It does look sociopathic from a distance.

    — sharon    2011-05-08 20:50    #

  6. Maybe future plaintiffs will think thrice before requiring the services of a suspended doctor with no hope to survive a Daubert pre-trial hearing ?

    — _Arthur    2011-05-13 09:48    #

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