Neuropsychology Expert Witnesses: 9

Emin Gharibian, PsyD, is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in Forensic Psychology and Neuropsychology with over 10 years of experience in assessing, treating, and consulting on psychological disorders.

Dr. Gharibian's training and experience have been in psychological and neuropsychological assessments in a variety of clinical settings including private practice, outpatient mental health clinics, psychiatric hospitals, forensic hospitals, and correctional facilities. 

He specializes in providing comprehensive psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for various conditions including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, complications from a stroke, traumatic brain injury, concussions, learning disabilities, ADHD, and PTSD.

He also specializes in forensic psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for immigration hearings, mental health diversion and mitigation, testamentary capacity, competency to stand trial, personal injury, worker's compensation, and fitness for duty. He provides consultation services to personal injury and worker's compensation attorneys on psychological and neuropsychological-related matters.  He has also testified as an expert and served as a consultant for the defense and prosecution in state and federal court.

In addition to his private practice, he is a forensic psychologist for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He conducts psychological evaluations to evaluate patients for violence risk and determine if they meet the criteria to be committed to a state hospital, write court reports, and testify in court as an expert witness.

Dr. Gharibian has been appointed to the Los Angeles Juvenile Court Expert Witness Panel. He is also a member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology and the American Psychology and Law Society.

Areas of Forensic Expertise:

Dr. Ernst specializes in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Competency/Capacity evaluations, Mitigation evaluations, and Employment Evaluations. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and one of fewer than 35 psychologists in California who have undergone the rigorous examination process necessary to obtain Board Certification in Forensic Psychology. As a trauma expert, Dr. Ernst chose to complete an additional year of fellowship training in PTSD at the San Francisco Veterans Hospital. 

Having completed over 350 forensic evaluations, Dr. Ernst is frequently retained to conduct a diverse range of civil and criminal evaluations including, but not limited to, mitigation evaluations (juvenile & adult), competency/capacity evaluations, personal injury evaluations, mental state at the time of the offense evaluations, violence risk assessment, and employment evaluations. He is currently a Qualified Medical Evaluator for the California Department of Industrial Relations and serves as a member of the Criminal Panel for Psychological and Psychiatric Experts for multiple Superior Courts. Dr. Ernst's past professional experiences including providing treatment and expert testimony as a member of the medical staff of Napa State Hospital and completing VA forensic evaluations on veteran's alleging psychiatric injury from military trauma. 

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Ernst's Consulting Profile.

Mohan Nair, MD, trained at the University of California (Irvine) and Harvard and is board certified in:

Dr. Nair brings his extensive training, clinical experience, and formal board certifications to provide in-depth and nuanced medico-legal analysis of cases for both adults and children involving brain injury, frequently and tragically combined with chronic pain and severe psychological trauma (PTSD). He is committed to comprehensive and accurate forensic examinations, quality neuropsychological assessment, and the use of the most up-to-date technology available in the field.

Dr. Nair has provided extensive trial testimony in defense and plaintiffs' cases. He provides and coordinates medical, psychological, neuropsychological, toxicological, and imaging experts for complex civil litigation. Dr. Nair has been on cases involving:

• TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY: TBI, Mild TBI, CTE, Concussions, Chronic Pain
• SCHOOL DISTRICT CASES: Discrimination, Personal Injury, Willful Misconduct, Sexual Misconduct, and other abuse
• ADULT-ADOLESCENT-CHILD PSYCHIATRY: Neurocognitive Assessment, Neuropsychological Testing, Anxiety Disorders, Depressive Disorders, Malingering, Police Violence, Psychosomatic Disorders, Trauma Evaluations, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
• ELDER MATTERS: Abuse, Dementia, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence
• MEDICAL TOXICOLOGY: Lead Exposure, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Mold
• STANDARD OF CARE: Psychiatric/Psychological / Psychotherapeutic Malpractice, Wrongful Death from Prescribing Psychiatric Medication

EDUCATION/TRAINING:

• 1970-75 Doctor of Medicine, University of Bombay
• 1981-83 Clinical Fellow in Child Psychiatry, Harvard University; McLean Hospital / Massachusetts General Hospital
• 1978-81 University of California at Irvine: Residency in Psychiatry

CERTIFICATIONS/LICENSES:

Dr. Nair is board certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties in Brain Injury Medicine, Psychiatry, Child Psychiatry, Forensic Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. Additionally, he is board-certified in Pain Medicine, Psychopharmacology, and Behavioral Neurology / Neuropsychiatry. He currently holds medical licenses in California and Hawaii.

Research & Planning Consultants, LP (RPC) has been assisting clients with expert services for over 45 years, including consulting and expert witness testimony for personal injury, healthcare litigation, commercial litigation and Certificate of Need matters. RPC also offers a wide selection of health data. They have served clients across the U.S, from Alaska to Florida and from New England to California. 

A Complete Team of Damages Experts for Personal Injury Litigation

Research & Planning Consultants, LP provides the following services: 

• PERSONAL INJURY - RPC provides comprehensive damages analysis in personal injury litigation. Their expert team has life care planners, vocational evaluators, board-certified physicians, economists and neuropsychologists. 

Areas of Expertise include: Life Care Plans, Loss of Earning Capacity or Support, Present Value of Damages, Medical Bill Analysis, Chargemaster Analysis, Neuropsychological Testing & Traumatic Brain Injury, Vocational Evaluations, IMEs, Section 18.001, Prestanding ED Chargemaster Analysis

• COMMERCIAL LITIGATION- RPC has provided expert analysis on commercial litigation concerning many industries: chemicals, refining, forestry, waste management, pipelines, water resources, oil and gas EDP, fisheries, agriculture, electrical generating plants, transmission lines, telecommunications, and real estate development. Our special expertise in the healthcare industry has proven valuable to business litigators unfamiliar with this complex industry.

Areas of Expertise: Breach of Contract / Commercial Economic Damages, Construction Disputes, Litigation over Non-Competitive Agreements, Environmental Torts and Toxic Torts, Commercial Disparagement, Wrongful Termination

• HEALTHCARE LITIGATION - RPC offers economic, statistical, data and clinical analysis in a wide range of healthcare litigation. They have experience with payment disputes, qui tam litigation, physician-hospital disputes, practice valuations and construction litigation. 

Areas of Expertise: Qui Tam Healthcare Litigation, Medical Staff Disputes, Professional Liability, Payment Disputes, Health Facility Construction Disputes, Freestanding ED Chargemester Analysis

• CERTIFICATE OF NEED - RPC provides Certificate of Need (CON) planning services nationwide. We have over 35 years of experience developing regulatory strategy, preparing applications and testifying in public and administrative hearings.

Areas of Expertise: Satellite Hospitals, New Hospitals, Relocation and Transfer of Beds, Observation Beds, Geriatric Psychiatric Units, Children’s Hospitals, Comprehensive Inpatient Rehabilitation Units, Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Open Heart Surgery Services, Long Term Acute Care Units, Projects that exceed CON Capital Threshold Limits, Projects for Specifically Listed Services, Programs Requiring CON, Hospices, Senior Living Facilities

Ronald T. Luke, JD, PhD, is a principal consultant and President of RPC, LP. Ron joined RPC in 1976 and became its president and principal owner in 1979. He has consulted on projects for health care providers, managed care plans and public agencies in more than 25 states. He also serves as an expert witness in trials, administrative proceedings and legislative hearings.

Active in the Health Policy Arena, Dr. Luke has been accepted as an expert in Economics, Socioeconomic Impact Analysis, and Policy Analysis by state and federal courts, and state administrative agencies. The types of cases in which he has provided expert testimony include personal injury, contractual disputes, health care payment disputes, construction defects, utility construction permitting, and certificate of need. He has testified on health care matters including market structure, billing fraud and abuse, reasonableness of charges, medical staff credentialing, workers’ compensation fee guidelines, utilization review, physician contracts, and managed care contracts.

Kacy L. Turner, MS, CRC, CVE, CLCP, is a Certified Life Care Planner and Vocational Consultant with RPC. She has over 20 years of experience in Rehabilitation. Ms. Turner has experience writing life care plans for both plaintiff and defense clients. She has experience as a rehabilitation consultant in three states and has been qualified as a testifying expert in state and federal court.  

Ms. Turner has worked on cases in several states as well as the country of Trinidad. To determine the pre-injury and post-injury employability in personal injury cases, she provides vocational testing, transferable skills analysis, job requirements analysis, rehabilitation plans, and definition of reasonable accommodations under the American with Disabilities Act. She is a member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals, the Texas Association of Rehabilitation Professionals and Providers of Services, and Vocational Evaluation and Career Assessment Professionals.

Brian Piper, PhD,  is an Economist with RPC specializing in Quantitative Analysis and Modelling. He works on a variety of cases including personal injury and certificate of need. He is experienced in data extraction, management, simulation, and analysis using STATA, SQL, ARC GIS and a variety of other programs. Dr. Piper has taught graduate classes in statistics and econometrics in both MBA and Ph.D. programs.

Dr. Piper is an experienced expert, providing testimony, reports, and affidavits on the issues of economic damages in personal injury litigation, healthcare litigation, False Claims Act litigation, and other commercial litigation. He has testified on behalf of plaintiffs and defendants. 

Dr. Piper specializes in the economics of healthcare. He has been retained by healthcare providers and insurers in payment disputes. He has analyzed the reasonableness of charges and expected payment for past and future medical services for providers, insurers, plaintiffs, and defendants. Besides work in litigation, Dr. Piper has provided analysis of Certificate of Need applications and the economic impacts of proposed legislation.

Dr. Michael J. Perrotti, Ph.D., a member of the National Academy of Neuropsychology, specializes in Clinical and Forensic Psychology. He has over 30 years of experience with consumers, courts, and counsel including civil, prosecution, defense counsel, family court and the US Government. Dr. Perrotti contributes to the profession as an Expert Consultant for the State of California Board of Psychology, and the California Board of Behavioral Science Examiners and is certified by LA County System Court as an Expert Witness in Neuropsychology, eyewitness ID and false confession.

Dr. Perrotti was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science at the Keck School of Medicine, USC (2005-2006), and conducted complex neuropsychological evaluations in USC. Dr. Perrotti possesses specialized training and has clinical and research interns. His practice is an approved internship site at UCLA. He also has expertise in the area of Assessment of Sexual Deviation and Evaluation of Child Sexual Abuse Allegations. His training, experience, and use of the Abel Assessment of Sexual Interest Computerized Test from the Abel Center in Atlanta, Georgia, enables him to add a state-of-the-art sophisticated tool for the evaluation of sexual offending. Dr. Perrotti has served as an expert witness for plaintiff and defense in personal injury and employment and workplace matters. Dr. Perrotti was awarded the Volunteer Services Award from the President's Volunteer Council as Service and Civic Participation, the White House. Dr. Perrotti is a member of the Orange County Sheriff's Reserve, Professional Services Division.

Services Include:

• Neuropsycholgical Assessment
• Sanity / Competency to Stand Trial Assessment
• Police Misconduct
• Suggestibility and False Confession
• Crime Scene Investigation in Report Formulation
• Sexual Predator Determination
• Effects of Psychotropic Medications on Confession
• Expert Neuropsychologist in Sexual Assault Trial
• Expert in Bonding Studies and False Confessions
• PTSD (acute and complex) in General, Law Enforcement, and Iraq War Veterans
• Panic Disorders and Phobias
• Custody Evaluation
• Severe Trauma in Children, Adolescents, and Adults

Forensic Psychiatric Associates, LP's (fpamed) mission is to provide the legal profession with the highest quality evidence-based forensic psychiatric and psychological opinion and testimony. To accomplish this, they have built a specialty practice of highly trained forensic psychiatrists and psychologists. 

The psychiatrists at fpamed are multiply boarded by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry. In addition to multiple board certifications, each has additional subspecialty expertise relevant to forensic psychiatric and psychological practice.

fpamed offers Forensic Psychiatric and Psychological Expert Assessment and Testimony about traumatic and non-traumatic psychological injuries including the following:

Dr. Mark I. Levy, MD, DLFAPA, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, has been practicing Clinical Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis full time for over 30 years. During the past fifteen years he has devoted a substantial portion of his clinical practice to Forensic Psychiatry, providing independent medical evaluations (IME's) and expert forensic psychiatric opinion and Consultation nationally for plaintiff and defense trial attorneys, major insurance carriers and the courts.

Dr. Levy has lectured on a wide range of forensic topics including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the role in personal injury litigation of pre-existing Personality Disorders, patient confidentiality, “Eggshell” Plaintiffs, stress management for attorneys and other topics and much more at state and local bar associations and in various other Continuing Legal Education programs for attorneys. He has written and lectured to medical audiences and is a frequent media expert and commentator on psychiatric, forensic, and mental health issues.

Dr. Levy has consulted as a psychiatric medical expert in more than 450 legal cases, have been deposed approximately 400 times and has been qualified as an expert by various State and Federal District Court to testify at trial on 52 occasions. He is currently an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry for the School of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, is on the Faculty at San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and is Chairman of the San Francisco Foundation for Psychoanalysis.Licenses.

Charles E. Saldanha, MD, FAPA, graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and completed his Doctor of Medicine degree at the Duke University School of Medicine. After internship at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, he completed residency in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at Yale University. He is certified in Psychiatry with Added Qualifications in Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Saldanha has practiced in the areas of Emergency Psychiatry, Inpatient Psychiatry, and Community Psychiatry with a focus on persons with Serious Mental Illness. Over the course of his career, he served in medical leadership roles for several facilities, hospitals, and programs in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has served on the faculty of the UCSF Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program and has delivered educational presentations to a variety of professional and lay audiences.

Dr. Saldanha's areas of interest include administrative psychiatry, violence and suicide risk assessment, substance use disorders, medical malpractice, and civil and criminal competencies. He has performed over 60 forensic psychiatric evaluations and has testified over 25 times in court proceedings and depositions. Dr. Saldanha has been qualified as an expert in the field of psychiatry in courts in Connecticut, California and in the Federal Jurisdiction.

Anlee Kuo, JD, MD, received her B.A. degree from Dartmouth College. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Psychiatry and subspecialty fellowship training in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Forensic Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco. She is certified in Adult, Child, Adolescent & Forensic Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Kuo's areas of interest include child forensic issues such as child custody evaluations, competency to stand trial assessments, diagnostic evaluations and risk assessments for the juvenile courts, parenting assessments in dependency cases, child sexual abuse allegations and child trauma assessments and diagnostic assessments in school consultation and child immigration cases. She currently maintains a clinical faculty appointment at the University of California, San Francisco and a private practice in San Francisco and San Mateo treating children, adolescents and adults. She has also worked in the child psychiatry division of the San Mateo County Mental Health Department.

Dr. Kuo has performed over 250 forensic psychiatric evaluations and qualified as an expert in the field of psychiatry in the San Francisco juvenile and adult courts and in the Federal Jurisdiction. She is a member of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association.

• Brain Related Disorders - stroke, head injury, dementia, developmental delays, ADHD / LD, anoxic / hypoxic events
• Neuropsychiatric Conditions - post-traumatic stress and personal injury sequela, symptom validity, malingering

Anger Problems / Anger Management

Anxiety - Generalised Anxiety Disorder with or without Panic Attacks

Health Anxiety / Hypochondriasis

Simple and Complex Phobias - Dental, Driving, Social, etc.

Bipolar Disorder

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Depression and Recurrent Depression

Excessive Drinking

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Adult ADHD

Eating Disorders - Overeating / Bulemia