Physical Therapy Expert Witnesses: 5

John E. (Jack) Dahlberg is a Life Care Planning Expert with over for 40 years of experience. Mr. Dahlberg has been in private practice since 1981, specializing in authoring and analyzing Life Care Plans and Case Management involving catastrophic injuries and disabilities for children and adults. He has provided services for over 3,000 clients with severe injuries.

Prior to beginning his private practice as a Life Care Planner, Mr. Dahlberg was employed as a Rehabilitation Counselor at Craig Hospital working with adult spinal cord and brain injuries from 1974 to 1983. Since that time, he has lectured and consulted nationally and internationally on a wide variety of issues relevant to catastrophic disabilities.

Litigation Support - Over the course of his career, Mr. Dahlberg has worked and testified in all 50 states, as well as Europe and the United Kingdom. In his capacity as an expert witness he has testified at the request of both plaintiff and defense attorneys. His services include life care plan analysis, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Kevin Kucko, MAPT, ATC is a licensed Physical Therapist with over 23 years of experience. His specialty areas include Work-injury Reduction, Outpatient Services Development, and Physical Rehabilitation. 

Background Experience - Mr. Kucko began his career as an athletic trainer working with athletes from college through the NFL. He quickly focused on accelerating recovery times while rehabilitating orthopedic injuries. In 1995, he completed his Masters’ degree in Physical Therapy. Since that time, he has served as Department Director at various rehabilitation facilities throughout the east. 

Litigation Support - With over 13 years of experience performing Functional Capacity Evaluations, Mr. Kucko has helped hundreds of clients resolve cases with the best possible outcome. He provides services to attorneys representing both Plaintiff and Defense. Kevin Kucko offers meticulous review of medical records in preparation for trial and depositions. For cases where therapy and physical rehabilitation are involved, he sets the foundation by explaining medical conditions and interventions in a clear and concise manner that jurors understand. Mr. Kucko has been deposed and/or testified 14 times since 2010. 

Areas of Expertise:

Cathy Ciolek, DPT, FAPTA, President of Living Well With Dementia, LLC, has over 30 years of experience as a Geriatric Physical Therapist. Dr. Ciolek is board certified as a Geriatric Clinical Specialist, a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP), and Certified Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Care Trainer (CADDCT) by the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners. 

Dr. Ciolek previously served as Regional Director for the Pennsylvania Restraint Reduction Initiative (PARRI),  providing education and consultation for issues related to well-being (falls, engagement, medication reduction) to nursing homes throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania via a CMS grant. 

Prior to that, Dr. Ciolek served as assistant professor and director of clinical education for the University of Delaware, Department of Physical Therapy. She has practiced as a physical therapist in outpatient, SNF, home health and CCRC facilities over the course of her career.  She is a former Instructor/ Guest Lecturer/Lab Instructor at multiple universities including: Drexel University, Temple University, AT Still University/Arizona School of Health Sciences, Widener University, and Rocky Mountain University.

Dr. Ciolek delivers speaks and delivers seminars throughout the nation on topics including dementia, exercise for aging adults, falls and fall risk mitigation, and Person-Centered Care.

Geriatric Physical Therapy Thought Leader:

• President, Academy of Geriatric Physical Therapy (APTA Geriatrics)
• Past President, Delaware Physical Therapy Association (APTA Delaware)
• American Physical Therapy Association
• APTA Geriatrics
• APTA Delaware
• Catherine Worthingham Fellow of the American Physical Therapy Association Award

Litigation Support - Dr. Ciolek is available as an expert witness for attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant. Her services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

View Dr. Cathy Ciolek's Consulting Profile.

MRK Medical Consultants provides Medical-Legal Evaluations to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client's situations. MRK provides a wide array of medical experts that offer objective review and analysis of personal injuries. Each stage of the process—research to review, analysis to opinion—is addressed in a comprehensive manner in order to help legal and insurance professionals reach appropriate conclusions about their client’s situations. MRK's prestigious list of more than forty consultants are active clinicians and surgeons, who are all board-certified or eligible in one or more specialties. MRK provides physician experts to the entire State of California, the Reno/Lake Tahoe area, and Las Vegas, and we travel to many areas of the United States. Physical therapy, registered nurses, physician assistant, and billing review consultants are available services MRK provides. Our office physicians are available for telephone review of the merits of your case before you decide to proceed.  

Edward W. Younger, III, M.D., Medical Director of MRK Medical Consultants, specializes in Orthopedic Surgery. He has extensive experience in total joint replacement, as well as reconstructive surgery of the knee, hip, and shoulder. He was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to his hospital. He served on the orthopedic trauma staff at Mercy San Juan Medical Center in Carmichael, California, for more than fifteen years and was instrumental in bringing computer navigation technology to that institution. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Society and is a Diplomate of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery, a member of the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and the California Orthopedic Association.

Dr. Michael R. Klein, Jr., M.D., specializes in Orthopedic Surgery and is a founding member and the first Medical Director of Northern California Orthopedic Centers. He was involved with the development of the orthopedic section of the Level II Trauma Center at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. He served as a clinical professor at the University of California, Davis, Medical Center for more than thirty years. He has been a member of the North American Spine Society since 2009 and was awarded the David O. Selby Award in 2020 for his contributions. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, and a member of the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association. He retired from the USAF in 1998 after being on active duty during the Vietnam War, and he was activated for Operation Desert Storm in 1991. 

MRK's Areas of Expertise:

David A.Sugar, MD, is a Board Certified Orthopaedic Surgeon. He has been in practice since 1997. Working as a general Orthopaedic Surgeon, he has treated an extremely wide array of Orthopaedic conditions and injuries.

Dr. Sugar has served as the Managing Partner in a group as large as 11 doctors and worked on the Surgical QI Committee ( currently serves as the Chairman) at the 35th largest hospital in the United States. Dr. Sugar is currently the principal surgeon at Sugar Orthopaedics where they provide surgical and non-surgical treatments for muscular and skeletal problems of all types.

Litigation Support - Dr Sugar has offered expert witness services for attorneys representing plaintiff and defendant for 20 years. His services include independent medical evaluations (IMEs), medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony. Dr. Sugar's cases have a heavy emphasis on Fractures, Knee, Shoulder, Sports Medicine, and Pediatric Orthopaedics.

Areas of Expertise: