Suicide Prevention Expert Witnesses

San Francisco, California

Psychology, Neuropsychology - Forensic, Child and Adolescent, PTSD, Custody, Capacity, Conservatorship, ADHD, Standard of Care, Personal Injury, Suicide Prevention, IME, Malpractice, Fitness for Duty

Katya Cornejo, Psy. D., Q.M.E., is a board certified clinical psychologist with comprehensive experience in the analysis of complex issues regarding causation of psychiatric injuries, such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Licensed as a Clinical Psychologist (PSYD23822) in 2009, Dr. Cornejo has previously worked for Kaiser Permanente, California Pacific Medical Center Department of Psychiatry, Westside Calworks, The Homeless Children’s Network, Mt. St. Joseph, and The Talk Line; she currently has a private practice in San Francisco. In private practice, Dr. Cornejo provides psychological and neuropsychological assessments for children, adolescents, and adults. She has experience with providing comprehensive and impartial care to patients of varying backgrounds, ages, and socioeconomic status, and is known for her conscientious and unbiased evaluations and for maintaining awareness of the cultural needs of her clients. Dr. Cornejo graduated from Mills Colle...

Los Angeles, California

Emergency Medicine, Nurse - prehospital care, behavioral health, 5150, suicide prevention, crisis prevention, stroke fallouts, fall prevention, ER Nurse UCLA, sepsis, ER overcrowding, triage errors, triage fallouts, restraints, behavioral detainment, Safety injury prevention, misdiagnosis, triage in crisis, breach in standard of care, duty of care, psychosocial

As a current charge nurse, clinical nurse, triage nurse, and Mobile Intensive Care Nurse (MICN) at a Level I Trauma Center, I bring over 23 years of emergency nursing experience, with advanced expertise in triage precision, stroke activation, psychiatric crisis management, and maintaining safety during emergency department overcrowding. I provide comprehensive care coordination from EMS field communication to hospital-based critical decision-making. I am a recognized expert in the triage process, with advanced proficiency in applying the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) to determine clinical urgency and anticipate resource needs. I have extensive experience identifying and preventing triage errors, particularly in high-volume settings where subtle but life-threatening presentations—such as early stroke, sepsis, or myocardial infarction—may be overlooked. I provide expert insight into common pitfalls in triage, including under-triaging of time-sensitive conditions, failure to recogniz...

Woodland Hills, California

Social Work, Mental Health - Mental Health, Intensive Outpatient Programs, Forensic Social Work, Adult Depression/Anxiety, Case Management, Standard of Care, Discharge Planning, Postpartum Depression, PTSD, Perinatal Mental Health, Domestic Violence, Work Place Sexual Harassment, Suicide Prevention, Institutional Abuse

Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) expert in mental health, psychiatric issues and women's health. I have a masters degree in social work from the University of Southern California and licensed in the state of California with the Board of Behavioral Sciences. I have experience and expertise with residential treatment centers, psychiatric hospitals, domestic violence shelters and outpatient mental health clinics. I was a leader for the Intensive Outpatient Program in an outpatient clinic. Supervised other therapist’s and coordinated treatment teams for patient care. I have collaborated with psychiatrists, primary care physicians, OBGYN's, medical social workers, RN's and nursing teams. I addition, I am a member of Postpartum Support International and helped create the positive motherhood transition program specializing and treating moms who struggle with postpartum depression/ anxiety. I have expertise with pregnancy loss, infertility and perinatal issues. I am also a member ...

Valley Center, California

Psychology, Forensic Psychology - Cognitive evaluations, PTSD, fitness for duty evaluation, traumatic brain injury, abuse, capacity, conservatorship, competency, will contest, workplace violence, suicide prevention, standard of care, malpractice

Michael A. Carlish, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist. He graduated with High Honors in Psychology from the University of California in Santa Barbara, received his Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology, and earned his doctorate degree at Alliant International University in San Diego, where he studied the relationship between humor and mental health. Dr. Carlish’s practice has centered around three populations: the severely mentally ill, Native Americans, and geriatric patients. Dr. Carlish put himself through graduate school by providing emergency mental health assessments in emergency rooms and psychiatric hospitals around San Diego County, and he continues to see patients in this setting on a regular basis. For the past twelve years he has assessed hundreds of severely mentally ill patients, evaluating suicidality, psychosis, and aggression. For the past four years, Dr. Carlish has acted as the primary testing ...

Davis, California

Psychology, Correctional Healthcare - Suicide, suicide prevention, suicide risk assessment, standard of care, deliberate indifference, negligence, prison, corrections, correctional mental health

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 16 years of experience in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. I am familiar with the clinical, administrative, and legal aspects of delivering mental healthcare in prison. I have delivered direct services in outpatient, inpatient, and segregated settings and supervised staff in outpatient and inpatient psychiatric programs. Mental healthcare in prison is frequently tied to judicial intervention. I am broadly familiar with the legal basis and remedial phases of such intervention. I am approved by the National Commission on Correctional Health Care as a Certified Correctional Health Professional. I have specific expertise in suicide in adult correctional settings (e.g., suicide risk assessment, treatment of suicidal persons, and suicide prevention policy). I have previously monitored and supported the suicide prevention programs for eight prisons in Northern California and coordinated the suicide prevention...

Pismo Beach, California

Law Enf & Criminal Justice, Jails & Prisons - Correctional Operations, Inmate Classification, Expert testimony, ADA, Jail & Prison, Custody & Security Procedures, Inmate Supervision, Policy & Procedures, Use of Force, Suicide prevention, Prison staff training, Disciplinary systems, Correctional Staff Practices, Conditions of confinement, Mental Health, Failure to protect

I possess over 30 years of professional experience working within the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) in both men's & women's correctional institutions. During my career, I worked in five different prisons representing a full spectrum of custody levels, ranging from minimum to maximum security institutions. This experience provided extensive knowledge of institutional operations, inmate management, security procedures, and correctional policy implementation across diverse correctional environments. More than 20 years of my career were dedicated to the inmate classification system, where I served as both a Correctional Counselor I and later as a Correctional Counselor II Supervisor. In these roles, I was responsible for evaluating inmate case factors, determining classification scores, assessing custody levels, reviewing disciplinary history, and recommending housing assignments and program placements. My work required the interpretation and applicatio...

Boca Raton, Florida

Substance Abuse, Mental Health - Addiction treatment center, Substance abuse, Addiction, Suicide, Family law, ASAM criteria, Alcoholism, PTSD, DUI, Marchman act, Medical malpractice, Baker act, Wrongful death, Suicide prevention, Dram shop, Sexual assault in addiction and mental health facilities

John Puls is a licensed psychotherapist, Master's Certified Addiction Professional (MCAP), clinical social worker, and qualified expert witness based in Florida. He brings over a decade of direct clinical, administrative, and support staff experience across all levels of care in substance abuse and mental health treatment. This includes detoxification units, residential inpatient programs, partial hospitalization programs, outpatient services, crisis stabilization units, and Baker Act receiving facilities. Mr. Puls is recognized for his deep understanding of clinical best practices and standards of care in both mental health and addiction treatment settings. He has designed and implemented evidence-based programming for treatment centers, with a focus on aligning services with state and national standards, including the ASAM Criteria (American Society of Addiction Medicine) for determining appropriate levels of care in addiction treatment. He has been retained as an expert witnes...

New York

Emergency Medicine, Nurse - prehospital care, behavioral health, 5150, suicide prevention, crisis prevention, stroke fallouts, fall prevention, ER Nurse UCLA, sepsis, ER overcrowding, triage errors, triage fallouts, restraints, behavioral detainment, Safety injury prevention, misdiagnosis, triage in crisis, breach in standard of care, duty of care, psychosocial

As a current charge nurse, clinical nurse, triage nurse, and Mobile Intensive Care Nurse (MICN) at a Level I Trauma Center, I bring over 23 years of emergency nursing experience, with advanced expertise in triage precision, stroke activation, psychiatric crisis management, and maintaining safety during emergency department overcrowding. I provide comprehensive care coordination from EMS field communication to hospital-based critical decision-making. I am a recognized expert in the triage process, with advanced proficiency in applying the Emergency Severity Index (ESI) to determine clinical urgency and anticipate resource needs. I have extensive experience identifying and preventing triage errors, particularly in high-volume settings where subtle but life-threatening presentations—such as early stroke, sepsis, or myocardial infarction—may be overlooked. I provide expert insight into common pitfalls in triage, including under-triaging of time-sensitive conditions, failure to recogniz...

New York, New York

Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatry - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide Prevention, Psychiatric Malpractice, Law and Psychiatry, Criminal Mitigation, Medical Decision Making, Hospital Practice, Statistics and Causal Analysis, Grief and Mourning, Pediatric Psychiatry, Family Loss, Neuropsychiatry, Behavioral Economics/Game Theory

Dr. Amsel serves as an expert witness in matters related to psychiatry, with a focus on Malpractice, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Suicide, Grief, Medical Decision Making, Hospital Psychiatric Care, and appropriate Evidence-based Standards of Care. Excellent references from multiple law firms are available on request. Dr. Amsel's expertise in dealing with the interface of legal and psychiatric issues is based on 28 years of experience in clinical practice, academic psychiatry, research, and public health, as well as his experience as an expert witness. Dr. Amsel studied mathematics at Columbia University before entering Yale University School of Medicine. After completing residency training he joined the Columbia faculty completing two prestigious National Institute of Mental Health research fellowships and obtained an Masters in Public Health (MPH) specializing in mental health statistics, and Child Psychiatry Research. As an expert on the effects of traumatic experiences...

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Psychology, Mental Health - Posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd), trauma, eating disorders, suicide risk assessment, emotional distress, clinical supervision, standard of care, duty to warn, psychopathology, suicide, suicide prevention, psychotherapy, risk assessment, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychological injury

Dr. Cara Marconi is a clinical psychologist with six years of post-licensure experience and experience across multiple levels of care including inpatient, partial hospital, and outpatient treatment settings. Her clinical work focuses on trauma-related disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and suicide risk assessment in outpatient mental health treatment. She has worked within multidisciplinary teams, including formal Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) programs, and regularly conducts risk assessments and treatment planning for individuals experiencing trauma-related disorders, suicidality, and complex psychopathology. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Marconi provides supervision to developing clinicians, taught undergraduate psychology courses, and provided continuing education training on evidence-based PTSD treatment for licensed professionals. She has presented psychological research and clinical topics in professional settings. Dr. Marconi offers expert consultation rela...