Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatric IME, Fitness for Duty/Threat Assessment Expert Witness

Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. & Associates
Sausalito, California 94965


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Expert WitnessForensic ExpertLitigation Support
Services
Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. provides the following services:
Forensic Psychiatry
Expert Witness in litigation and administrative matters
IME (Independent Medical Examination) and report of findings
Review of Records
Assessment of Emotional Distress, PTSD, Malingering, Secondary Gain, Diagnosis, Prognosis
Fitness for Duty and Threat Assessments
Areas of special expertise applied in civil and criminal cases include particular expertise with PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder) and Chronic Pain syndromes, as well as assessing malingering, Fitness for Duty and Threat of Violence, Psychosomatic Medicine, Psychogenic Pain, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and other Dementia, Testamentary or Diminished Capacity, Insanity, Dangerousness, False Memory Syndrome, Harassment, Discrimination and Other Tortious Acts, Wrongful Termination, Risk/Threat Workplace Violence Assessment, Fitness for Duty, Employment Litigation, Sexual Molestation, Children, Adolescents and Adults, Stalking, Medical Malpractice, Substance Abuse, Undue Influence (Including Cults), Toxic Exposure, Product Liability, Catastrophic Injury, Temporary and Permanent Disability, Need for Treatment, Medical Records Review, Mental Evaluation. Dr. Raffle speaks and writes on the topic of the examination and cross-examination of mental health expert witnesses.
Litigation Support Services
Dr. Raffle's qualifications to be an expert witness in a case with psychiatric aspects are enhanced by a career teaching attorneys on the cross-examination and direct examination of mental health expert witnesses, at U.C. Hastings College of the Law Trial Advocacy Program. Discovery and cross-examination of experts can introduce new evidence if approached with a practiced eye. Over 50 years in practice have provided Dr. Raffle with considerable experience. His extensive medical background in clinical psychiatry, as well as teaching about the psychiatric aspects of chronic pain in the U.C.S.F. Medical School Department of Orthopedics enhance his ability to zero in on medical evidence otherwise "hiding" from an untrained eye.
Areas of Expertise
- Addictions
- Admiralty and Maritime
- Agoraphobia
- Alcohol Abuse
- Alzheimer's Disease
- Amnesia
- Anxiety Disorders
- Asperger's Syndrome
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)
- Autism
- Back Pain
- Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression)
- Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD)
- Brain and Spinal Diseases
- Brain Injury
- Catastrophic Injury
- Child Abuse
- Child Psychiatry
- Child Psychology
- Chronic Pain
- Clinical Psychiatry
- Codependency
- Competency
- Concussion
- Criminal
- Criminal Responsibility
- Dementia
- Depressive Disorders
- Diminished Capacity
- Discrimination
- Dissociative Disorders
- Drug Addiction
- Dyslexia
- Eating Disorders
- Emotional Distress
- Employment
- Estates and Trusts
- False Memory
- Family Law
- Fitness for Duty
- Forensic Medicine
- Forensic Psychiatry
- Forensic Psychology
- Gambling Addiction
- Gulf War Syndrome
- Hospice
- Huntington's Disease
- Independent Medical Exams (IME)
- Insanity Defense
- Insomnia
- Internet Addiction
- Litigation
- Malingering
- Medical Analysis
- Medical Malpractice
- Medical Records
- Medical Review
- Medical-Legal Issues
- Mental Health
- Mental Impairments
- Mood Disorders
- Neuropsychiatry
- Oppositional Defiant Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Patient Rights
- Personal Injury
- Personality Disorders
- Pornography Addiction
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Postpartum Depression
- Probate
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Reactive Attachment Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Self-Injury
- Sensory Deprivation
- Sensory Integration Dysfunction
- Serial Killers
- Sexual Addiction
- Sexual Disorders
- Sexuality
- Social Phobia
- Stalking
- Stress Management
- Substance Abuse
- Suicide
- Testamentary Capacity
- Trauma
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Undue Influence
- Violence
- Workplace Violence
- Wrongful Termination
Additional Expertise:
Intentional and Unintentional Infliction of Emotional Distress; Pain and Suffering; Risk/Threat Workplace Violence Assessment; Discrimination (ADA and Title VII); Harassment, including Sexual Harassment, Stalking, Threat of Violence; Employment Litigation; Disability.
Profile
Dr. Raffle has consulted for attorneys, judges, insurers, employers, and the U.S. government. His track record and experience are impressive: Over 5,000 psychiatric evaluations, 800+ deposition and trials, a successful clinical practice, and 27-year term as clinical faculty at U.C.S.F. Medical School. For eleven years, he taught a postgraduate course about direct and cross-examination of expert witnesses to attorneys at U.C. Hastings College of the Law.
Dr. Raffle's qualifications and demeanor are assets in the courtroom, as is his ability to give testimony to present facts and explain his conclusions in a manner jurors can follow with ease.
Dr. Raffle's expertise is well established in the areas of (1) Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD); (2) Psychiatric Elements of Chronic Pain; (3) Emotional Distress and Pain (intentional and unintentional); (4) Psychosomatic Medicine; (5) Workplace Fitness for Duty, Threat/Violence Assessments, Psychiatric Disability, Wrongful Termination, Sexual or Other Harassment, and American Disabilities Act (ADA); (6) Probate matters, such as Will Contests, Testamentary or Diminished Capacity, Undue Influence, and various Dementia; (7) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI); (8) Criminal Responsibility; and (9) Toxic Torts. He is very familiar with the legal process, including Federal Court, Maritime Law, Worker's Compensation, and Employee Dispute Resolution Proceedings.
Dr. Raffle has conducted psychiatric assessments, testified, and consulted throughout North America, including, but not limited to, Washington D.C., Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska, Washington State, Texas, Toronto, Canada, and most counties in California. His reputation extends internationally.
Areas Served
All U.S states and abroad
More Information
Psychiatric Disability Expert Witness
Fitness for Duty & Disability Expert Witness
Insanity Defense Expert Witness
Wrongful Termination Litigation Support
Workplace Risk of Violence Expert Witness
Contact Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. & Associates - Expert Witness
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Professional Experience
Assistant Clinical Professor, Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 1980 – 2001
Assistant Clinical Professor, Orthopedic Surgery (as a psychiatrist) University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 1983 – 2001
Instructor, UC Hastings Center for Trial and Appellate Advocacy, 1985 – 2000
Instructor, Herrick Hospital Psychiatric Residency Training Program, 1972 – 1983
Instructor, Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, 1974 – 1980
Licenses
1969 to Present - State of California
1989 to 2008 - State of Alaska
Legal Experience & Services
Samples:
Legal Testimony in Court and Deposition
Federal, State, Civil, Criminal, Appellate, Military, and Administrative Jurisdictions
Consultant to Attorneys throughout North America and internationally
Independent Medical Examinations
Reports of Findings, Diagnosis, and Prognosis
Medical Records Review
Sample of Clients:
International and Local law firms, including Littler Mendelson, Ropers Majeski, Baker McKenzie, Lewis Brisbois and Squire Sanders
Multinational and local businesses including Fortune 500 companies; i.e., Chevron, Tesoro/Golden Eagle, PG&E, U.S. Postal Service, and myriad others
Public Defenders: Counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Mendocino, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey and Solano, California; Anchorage and Palmer, Alaska
District Attorneys: Counties of Del Norte, Mendocino, Amador, and Yolo, California; Anchorage, Alaska
United States Attorneys: Multiple Districts in California and Alaska
Private and Municipal entities
Specific references provided on request and with relevancy to case at hand.
Affiliations
American Medical Association (AMA)
California Medical Association (CMA)
American Psychiatric Association (APA), Life Member
Northern California Psychiatric Society (NCPS)
American Academy of Psychiatry and Law (AAPL)
California Academy of Medicine
Fellow, Royal College of Medicine (UK), inactive
Qualifications
Diplomate in Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Diplomate in Forensic Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Awards & Honors
1973 to 1978 Chairman, Committee on Informed Consent. In 1978, this committee merged into Committee on
Psychiatry and the Law
1976 to 1987 Task Force about the Role of the Psychiatrist in the Criminal Law Process, Northern California Psychiatric Society
1983 to 1986 Education Committee, Northern California Psychiatric Society
Seminars & Training
As Leader, Presenter, or Panel Member:
2015 "Malingering" Presentation to Law Offices of John E. Hill for attorneys in civil litigation, personal injury, and workers' compensation practices
2014 "Diminished Capacity in the Elderly for Trusts and Wills" Hult International Business School, sponsored by the Herald Tribune World Youth Forum Alumni Association, Shanghai, China
2011 "The Prosecutor's Best Use of a Psychiatrist or Psychologist Expert Witness in Cases of Alleged Stalking; Examination, and Cross Examination of a Mental Health Expert Witness"
Collaborative Stalking Summit, San Francisco District Attorney's Office Stalking Task Force, conference for District Attorneys, law enforcement, and private sector attorneys
2011 "A Few Thoughts About the Direct Examination and Cross Examination of a Mental Health Expert Witness in Workers' Compensation Proceedings", Featured speaker, Sacramento County Bar Association
2010 "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Other Stress Response Syndromes", Featured speaker, Industrial Claims Association of San Francisco
2009 "Fitness for Duty and Employment Law Seminar", Featured speaker, Kaiser Permanente
2009 "Suicide Prevention & Assistance: Preparation of Suicide Prevention Materials", Employee Assistance Program, Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) (California's largest utility)
2009 "Threat Assessment in the Workplace", United States Postal Service (for regional medical unit personnel)
1996 "Chronic Pain Syndrome: An Interdisciplinary Approach", Management Circle, The Public Pension Fund Forum for New Trustees Conference
1995 "Permanent and Stationary is Not Forever: Controlling Disability Payments in the Public Pension Plan", Institute for International Research
1992 – 1994 "Sexual Harassment", American Bar Association Annual Meeting
1992 "Sexual Discrimination in the Workplace", American Bar Association, National Meeting
1992 "Trial of a Sexual Harassment Case: From Voir Dire to Jury Decision", American Bar Association, Division for Professional Education
1991 "Treatment of Chronic Pain", Merritt-Peralta Medical Center, Oakland, California
1990 "Psychiatric Malpractice: A Review of Treatment Risks, Opportunities and the Law", Alaska Psychiatric Institute, Anchorage, Alaska
1990 "Assessment of Chronic Pain", Merritt-Peralta Medical Center, Oakland, California
1989 – 1990 "Crisis Management for Psychiatric Emergencies", United States Postal Service
1985 "Stress and Cardiovascular Disease", Intensive Residency for Occupational Medicine, University of California San Francisco Medical School
1985 "Psychiatry and Workers' Compensation Law", California Applicants' Attorneys Association (CAAA), (12-hour course presented over four days)
1984 "Psychopathology and Physiology of Pain", Northern California Psychiatric Society
1976 "The Role of the Psychiatrist in the Courtroom", American Society of Criminology, Tucson, Arizona
1973 "Psychiatry and Criminal Law", Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB), California
Professional References
Professional references gladly provided upon request.
Education
University of California, Berkeley, California: B.A., Physiology (1962)
The Chicago Medical School, Chicago, Illinois: Doctor of Medicine (1966)
Articles Published by Stephen M. Raffle, M.D. & Associates
Who's on First: Allegations of Harassment, Discrimination and/or Wrongful Termination
Allegations of Workplace Harassment, Discrimination or Wrongful Termination are serious and have serious consequences. He said/She said usually produces a mixed understanding of what occurred. Evidence and expert testimony assist the jury in understanding the mental health of the "players" and emotional tenor driving the litigation.
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Direct and Cross-Examination of Mental Health Expert Witnesses including Psychiatrists and Psychologists
Direct and Cross-Examination of a mental health expert, whether a psychiatrist, psychologist, including a treating therapist who may have different credentials is most successful when questions are tailored to the nature of the opinion in the context of the expert's professional findings. Knowing your way around what jurors may interpret as "psychobabble" and redirecting them to a serious professional opinion will help solidify the nature and success of your examination or cross-examination.
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The Role of the Expert in the Courtroom, Choosing the Right Expert
It is absolutely necessary that the forensic expert is an impartial evaluator. The outcome of a case is not relevant to the forensic expert; it is not his or her job to win or lose cases. The job of the expert witness is to reach an impartial opinion and then defend that opinion within an adversarial context. If new information is provided that changes the weight of the evidence in such a way as to change the expert's opinion then the expert must be prepared to do so.
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When Therapists Aren't Experts
The therapist as expert witness: reasons the treating psychotherapist should not be the expert witness.
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