Using his practical PLAN Model, based in caselaw and psychology’s literature, Dr. Zervopoulos—a lawyer and board-certified forensic psychologist—helps you understand a case’s psychological issues and critique mental health experts, their work, and their testimony during case preparation, depositions, and at trial.
As a Consulting Partner—different than a traditional non-lawyer consulting expert—Dr. Zervopoulos can assist you to:
- Draft questions for deposition and court testimony of experts and other witnesses.
- Edit motions and briefs to sharpen your language, arguments, and organization and draft motions to exclude or defend an expert‘s work and testimony or related motions in limine.
- Critique an expert’s psychological evaluation or child custody report, examining the methodology, the quality of the data upon which the expert’s conclusions are based, and the reasoning supporting the expert’s conclusions and opinions.
- Understand and challenge how experts use psychological testing and incorporate test results into their conclusions and opinions.
- Survey professional literature and research applicable to psychological case issues and testing—important for depositions or direct-and cross-examinations of experts, and critical for Daubert or Frye challenges of an expert‘s work and testimony.
- Analyze experts’ use of professional literature and research to support their methodology, conclusions, and opinions.
- Review records of mental health professionals and agencies to examine the bases for experts’ conclusions and opinions or to identify standard of care concerns.
- Evaluate the reliability of Child Protective Services investigations, including review of case records as well as research-based analysis of videotaped interviews and case issues in such investigations.
- Develop themes to guide trial strategy and to organize case presentation in court.
- Determine interest-based concerns of the parties to generate useful mediation or settlement options or to resolve mediation or settlement impasses.