Veterans Affairs Expert Witnesses: 3

Military Experts, LLC is a consulting firm that advises attorneys nationwide on military issues including accession, promotion, retention, and compensation (active, reserve, and retired pay and benefits). Founded in 2011, Military Experts, LLC employs a diverse team of recognized military leaders from each branch of the military who have served at the highest levels of their military services and understand the military issues and service-specific nuances involved in each case.

Military Experts, LLC helps attorneys understand, quantify, and explain the impact an injury has had on a service member’s career. Their experts employ a reliable, fact-based methodology and independent judgment honed over decades of military experience to advise attorneys representing plaintiffs or defendants in civil litigation across the country.

Military Experts, LLC advise their attorney clients as either consulting or testifying experts. They have the knowledge and experience to properly advise attorney clients on the impact an individual’s military service has on their case – and the credibility to explain those impacts to a finder of fact. Each case is different, but the process and methodology are the same:

• Determine whether a service member's injury caused any damage to his/her career:
• Assess whether a service member has lost military earnings or benefits and, if so,:
• Quantify the loss stemming from that damage (pay, benefits, retirement, medical coverage - inflation-adjusted)

Hon. Dennis M. McCarthy, LtGen, USMC (Ret) is a Principal in Military Experts, LLC. He began his Marine Corps service as a platoon leader in Vietnam, and completed it as Commander of Marine Forces Reserve, having led that force for four years during the Corps’ largest reserve mobilization in history. He retired in 2005 as the Marine Corps' senior Lieutenant General with over 40 years of active and reserve service.

After completing his service in uniform, he was Executive Director of the Reserve Officers Association of the United States, a 60,000 member professional association in Washington, D.C.  In 2009, he was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense. As Assistant Secretary of Defense, he was responsible for policy development and execution for over one million members of the National Guard and Reserves of all services. He was also responsible for the activities of the National Committee for Employer Support of Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense entity tasked with establishing and maintaining positive relationships with the nation’s large and small employers whose support is so essential to members of the Guard and Reserve.

In 2013-2014, Dennis was appointed by the President to the National Commission on the Structure of the Air Force, where he served as its Chair. From 1978 to 1999 while serving in the Marine Corps Reserve, Dennis was a civil trial lawyer in Columbus, Ohio and was managing partner of his own firm.  He was Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy; an Adjunct Faculty member at Capital University Law School;  a leader in state and national legal organizations; and a frequent CLE lecturer and contributor.  

Dennis is currently of counsel to McCarthy Law Offices, LLC in Columbus, Ohio. Dennis graduated from the University of Dayton and the Capital University Law School. In 2010,  he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree by Capital University Law School, and was named the Distinguished Alumnus for 2011.  

Michael D. McCarthy, is a Principal in Military Experts, LLC. Mike is an expert on matters relating to military compensation and the disability evaluation system. Mike is a career Marine Corps officer with over 20 years of active and reserve service.  He has served in both command and staff assignments in the United States and abroad, including a tour as the Military Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.  Mike has served as a member of multiple Marine Corps promotion boards, as well as the Secretary of the Navy’s Marine Corps Reserve Policy Board.  He is a graduate of the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy, the Marine Corps’ Command and Staff College, and the Amphibious Warfare School.

Mike’s military training and experiences, as well as his experience as an attorney in private practice, give him unique insight and a superior ability not only to assess the ground-truth of a situation and to provide sound counsel to his clients, but also the credibility to effectively testify to his findings. Mike is admitted to practice law in Ohio and the District of Columbia.

Dr. Christopher A. Lowery, DHSc, CLCP is a Clinical Health & Rehabilitation Consultant with a special interest in helping individuals and organizations with public health impairment issues.

Since 2002, Dr. Lowery passion is to educate, empower and provide hope to individuals that deal with catastrosphic health impairments by educating them on how to live a better quality of life due to poor health care conditions, which will address social, cultural and behavioral barriers across all diverse populations.

He currently hold the following degrees at University of North Texas, Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Studies (07); University of Oklahoma, Master of Arts in Human and Health Administration Services (10); Capital University Law School, Post-Speciality Certificate in Life Care Planning (12); University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Post-Master's Certificate in Rehabilitation Counseling (14); and Nova Southeastern University, Doctor of Health Science in Global Health (16).  

Due to the broad knowledge of education, he practice as an expert on the following topics: expert testimony, litigation support, vocational evaluations, employment support/job placement, earnings capacity evaluations, rehabilitation consulting, medical life care planning, formulate reviews/opinions on independent medical examinations, disability case management, and a wide range of public health, medical, psychological and psychosocial aspect of disabilities. 

**If you have a case that needs Dr. Lowery's expertise, please feel free to give his office a call for a free consultation.

Note: Please see below or website for more expertise areas. Areas of Expertise:

View Christopher Lowery's Consulting Profile.

Todd Finnerty, Psy.D. is a Psychologist in Columbus, Ohio and an expert on Psychological Impairment Assessment and Disability Claims. Dr. Finnerty has been licensed as a psychologist since 2003, and is currently in active clinical practice providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (particularly for insomnia). Dr. Finnerty offers both forensic and treatment services in-person and telehealth examinations.

Background Experience - Since 2004, Dr. Finnerty has performed tens of thousands of medical records reviews on Social Security Disability Claims for the Ohio Division of Disability Determination. He also conducts psychological evaluations related to Impairment and Workers Compensation Claims (ex: for the Ohio Industrial Commission). He performs file reviews on short-term and long-term disability insurance cases and he's performed hundreds of medical records peer reviews for disability insurance companies (ex: working through Professional Disability Associates). 

Dr. Finnerty has experience reviewing the medical records of military treatment facilities after the suicide of their service members to determine whether the standard of care was met during the treatment. He provides disability evaluations and independent medical opinions for veterans (has worked with VES and QTC in the past contracting with the VA), and psychotherapy and psychological assessment (including validity testing) using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and other evidence-based approaches.

Dr. Finnerty was named "Disability Review Physician of the Year" in 2012 by the National Association of Disability Examiners, Great Lakes Region, and the Ohio Association of Disability Examiners' "Consultant of the Year" in 2010.

Litigation Support Services: Dr. Finnerty is available to perform Independent Psychological Evaluations as well as Medical Records Reviews. His ideal clients are attorneys and organizations in need of disability claim review, worker's compensation claim review, or litigation related to impairment such as personal injury. 

• Medical Records Reviews and IME's related to short-term and long-term Disability Insurance and related issues
• Independent Medical Opinions / Nexus Letters for Veterans VA Disability Claims
• Psychological Evaluations (IMEs) related to Disability Insurance Claims, Workers Compensation (Federal and Ohio), and Functional Impairment
• Opinions / Form Completion related to Disability Leave
• Personal Injury psychological evaluations and records reviews

Contact Dr. Finnerty directly on his cell phone with questions at 330-495-8809.