Pennsylvania expert witness: experts for Pennsylvania state and federal courts.
Expert Witness Networks places board-certified physicians, licensed specialists and technical experts on Pennsylvania cases for record review, written opinions, deposition and trial testimony. Serving Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Reading and Erie and every county statewide.
How Pennsylvania courts treat expert testimony
The rules every expert must meet in Pennsylvania, medical or not.
Frye
Pa.R.E. 702(c) requires the expert’s methodology to be generally accepted in the relevant field (Grady v. Frito-Lay, Inc., 839 A.2d 1038 (Pa. 2003)). Walsh v. BASF Corp., 234 A.3d 446 (Pa. 2020) clarified that courts review the methodology, not the conclusions.
The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts, in 60 judicial districts. There are two intermediate appellate courts: the Superior Court for most civil and criminal appeals and the Commonwealth Court for government matters. The highest court is the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania medical expert requirements
What a medical expert must satisfy before testifying in a Pennsylvania malpractice case.
Who qualifies as a medical expert
Under the MCARE Act, 40 P.S. § 1303.512, the expert needs an unrestricted license in any state and must be in active clinical practice or teaching, or retired from it within 5 years. The expert must also practice the same or a substantially similar subspecialty and hold the same or a similar board certification. Courts may waive the specialty requirements under § 512(d)–(e).
Certificate, affidavit or presuit requirement
Counsel files a certificate of merit with the complaint or within 60 days, one per licensed-professional defendant (Pa.R.C.P. 1042.3). It certifies that an appropriate licensed professional supplied a written statement of reasonable probability of negligence. One 60-day extension is available, and failure to file allows judgment of non pros (Rules 1042.6–1042.7).
Out-of-state experts
No Pennsylvania license, registration or fee is required. A medical expert’s unrestricted license from any state or D.C. satisfies MCARE § 512(b).
Statute of limitations
Two years under the discovery rule (42 Pa.C.S. § 5524). Minority is tolled until age 18 (§ 5533(b)). MCARE’s 7-year repose was struck down in Yanakos v. UPMC, 218 A.3d 1214 (Pa. 2019).
Damage caps
No cap on compensatory damages (Pa. Const. art. III, § 18). Punitive damages against an individual physician are capped at 200% of compensatory damages unless the misconduct was intentional (40 P.S. § 1303.505).
Case & Record Review
Thorough review of records, imaging, reports and evidence.
Written Opinions
Clear, defensible expert reports and affidavits.
Deposition Testimony
Prepared, credible testimony under examination.
Trial Testimony
Plain-language explanation for judge and jury.
Defense and prosecution experts in Pennsylvania
No statewide statute covers expert funding. Indigent defense is run and funded mostly by counties (Public Defender Act, 16 P.S. § 9960.1 et seq.), and the trial court decides requests for experts at public expense on a showing of need, guided by Ake v. Oklahoma, 470 U.S. 68 (1985). Since a December 2023 law, the state adds supplemental grants through the Indigent Defense Advisory Committee at PCCD.
We place experts in homicide, abusive head trauma (shaken baby), child abuse and non-accidental trauma, competency and criminal responsibility, and vehicular cases.
Experts we place on Pennsylvania cases
A sample of our roster. Beyond medicine we also place engineers, architects, geologists, meteorologists, questioned-document examiners, DNA specialists and attorney experts.
Questions attorneys ask about Pennsylvania experts
Is Pennsylvania a Frye or Daubert state?
Frye. Pa.R.E. 702(c) requires a generally accepted methodology (Grady v. Frito-Lay, 2003; Walsh v. BASF, 2020). Federal courts in Pennsylvania apply Daubert under FRE 702.
Does a Pennsylvania medical expert have to be in active practice?
Yes. MCARE § 512(b) requires active clinical practice or teaching, or retirement from it within the past five years. There is no percentage-of-time test.
Is there still a statute of repose for medical malpractice in Pennsylvania?
No. Yanakos v. UPMC (2019) struck down the 7-year repose. Only the 2-year limitations period and the discovery rule apply.
Where can a Pennsylvania medical malpractice case be filed?
In any county with proper general civil venue. The Supreme Court removed the special malpractice venue rule effective Jan. 1, 2023, though venue clauses in patient consent forms have been enforced (Somerlot v. Jung, 2025 PA Super 166).
Can Expert Witness Networks provide an expert for a Pennsylvania case?
Yes. Our experts travel and testify in Pennsylvania state and federal courts for plaintiff and defense counsel, prosecutors, pro se parties and private individuals. You receive the expert’s CV and fee schedule before anything proceeds.
Sources
This page summarizes Pennsylvania law for general information as of 2026 and is not legal advice. Statutes and case law change; confirm current requirements for your matter.
Tell us what your case requires.
Call or write with the specialty, the issues in dispute and your deadline. We will find the right fit.
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