Behavioral science applied to a legal question
Forensic services are separate from ordinary psychotherapy. They exist to answer a referral question for an attorney, a litigant, or a court, and they are conducted under a different role, a different standard of documentation, and a different set of ethical obligations than treatment.
Services
- Forensic Case ConsultationBehavioral-science expertise applied to a legal matter, for attorneys and litigants who need the psychological issues in a case identified, tested, and explained.Case dependent
- Record Review and Case AnalysisA structured read of the documentary record, available as a stand-alone service or as the foundation of a larger engagement.Case dependent
- Forensic Clinical InterviewsFocused forensic-clinical interviewing, conducted in the forensic role rather than the therapeutic one, when it fits the referral question.Case dependent
- Investigative Interview ConsultationAnalysis of how an interview was conducted and whether methodology affected the information obtained, grounded in PEACE and FETI training.
- Child and Adolescent Forensic Interview IssuesConsultation on developmental factors affecting statements made by children or adolescents, and on what the interview conditions do and do not support.
- Trauma-Informed Forensic AnalysisA scientifically grounded reading of trauma-related behavior, rather than the assumption that any single behavior proves or disproves an allegation.
- Violence and Risk AssessmentRisk-focused assessment using the HCR-20 Version 3 structured professional judgment framework, organized around historical, current clinical, and future risk-management factors.Case dependent
- Domestic Violence Forensic ConsultationConsultation in matters involving allegations or histories of intimate-partner violence, including treatment progress, behavioral stability, and risk.
- Protective Order and Restraining Order MattersBehavioral consultation in restraining order and protective order proceedings, from a limited opinion letter to full record review, report, and testimony.
- Firearm-Related Behavioral Risk ConsultationBehavioral and psychological factors relevant to firearm-related legal proceedings, analyzed neutrally and confined to the evidence in the individual matter.
- Structured Professional Judgment ReportsComprehensive forensic reports that state the question, the sources, the methodology, the findings, the competing explanations, and the limits.Case dependent
- Forensic Report WritingWritten work sized to the matter, from a short focused memorandum to an extensive forensic report. Complexity determines the fee.Case dependent
- Attorney Consultation and Litigation SupportA discrete consultation or continuing litigation support, including work behind the scenes that never becomes a report.Case dependent
- Expert Report ReviewA methodological review of an existing psychological, psychiatric, behavioral, or forensic report, including whether its conclusions exceed its data.
- Expert Witness ServicesTestimony in person, remotely, or at an evidentiary hearing, prepared to be examined. The appearance fee is $2,000 per court appearance.$2,000 per appearance
- Court Appearance and Hearing PreparationThe preparation work that happens before an appearance: exhibits, anticipated questions, plain-language explanations, and known limitations.
- Ongoing Forensic RetainersA retainer arrangement for comprehensive matters expected to require continuing involvement rather than individual hourly services.Call for information and case-specific pricing
Role
Forensic work is not treatment
Clinical treatment and forensic work serve very different purposes. Treatment is organized around the goals of the person in the room. Forensic work is organized around a question, the evidence available to answer it, and the limits of what that evidence supports.
The existence of a therapeutic relationship does not automatically establish a forensic evaluator or expert-witness relationship, and a forensic engagement does not create a treatment relationship. Those roles are kept separate on purpose, because blending them is the fastest way to compromise both.
Each matter is approached according to the referral question, applicable ethical standards, current licensure and supervision requirements, and the limits of the provider's professional role. Forensic matters are accepted on a case-by-case basis.
Referral sources
Who retains these services
Forensic services may range from a focused record review or professional letter to comprehensive litigation consultation and expert testimony. Work may be requested by:
- Attorneys
- Law firms
- Individual litigants
- Parents
- Criminal defendants
- Veterans
- Current or former therapy clients when ethically appropriate
- Employers
- Government agencies
- Other clinicians
- Behavioral-health organizations
- Courts or legal professionals when appropriate
Scope and fees
How a matter is priced
Fees vary according to the complexity of the matter, the amount of documentation involved, urgency, travel requirements, preparation time, and anticipated court involvement. Most forensic line items are therefore case dependent and quoted after the scope is understood.
Two figures are fixed. Expert testimony is $2,000 per court appearance. Comprehensive forensic retainers are priced after an initial consultation: call for information and case-specific pricing.
Additional fees may apply for extensive preparation, expedited matters, travel, voluminous record review, lengthy reports, deposition preparation, or services outside the original scope of retention.
Standard of practice
Evidence over advocacy
Being retained by a party does not mean automatically adopting that party's position. The goal of forensic consultation is to provide an independent, professionally supportable analysis.
When the evidence supports a client's position, that can be explained. When limitations exist, those limitations must also be identified, in the report and on the stand.
That credibility is essential when professional opinions may ultimately be scrutinized by attorneys, opposing experts, or the court. An opinion that concedes nothing tends to survive nothing.
Method
Structured professional judgment, not labels
Risk-focused work uses structured professional judgment rather than simplistic predictions of whether someone is "dangerous." The framework weighs historical risk factors, current clinical circumstances, and future environmental conditions together, alongside protective factors, treatment, stability, insight, compliance, and risk-management opportunities.
That approach evaluates risk dynamically rather than reducing an individual to a label. In legal matters the question is rarely only what occurred historically. It is what the evidence suggests about present functioning and reasonably foreseeable future risk, and what conditions would raise or lower it.
Written work
Reports written for real-world use
Forensic documents should not simply contain technical language. Reports are structured so the intended reader can follow the reasoning:
- What question was asked
- What information was reviewed
- What methodology was used
- What the evidence shows
- What limitations exist
- What conclusions are reasonably supported
Communication
Technically correct is only half the job
Academic instruction and behavioral-science education inform how findings are explained to attorneys, courts, and decision-makers without specialized psychological training. Technically correct information is useful only when it can also be explained clearly.
Where it helps the reader, reports may incorporate timelines, tables, structured-risk formulations, protective factors, future risk scenarios, and concise summaries prepared for legal decision-makers.
Clinical and forensic services are distinct professional activities. The existence of a therapeutic relationship does not automatically establish a forensic evaluator or expert-witness relationship. Services are provided only within the provider's education, training, professional scope, current licensure status, supervision requirements, and applicable California law. No forensic opinion, legal outcome, court decision, disability determination, VA determination, firearm-rights determination, custody decision, or other administrative or judicial result can be guaranteed. Forensic conclusions are based on the information available, the scope of the referral, applicable methodology, and the professional limitations identified in the individual case. Forensic matters are accepted on a case-by-case basis. Contact the practice to discuss the nature of the matter, deadlines, anticipated services, and retainer requirements.