Information for Attorneys: Three Engagement Pathways
At Dr. Long & Associates, we understand that navigating complex legal matters requires more than just psychological data; it demands strategic insight and unwavering procedural integrity. Our services are structured into three distinct engagement pathways, each designed with clear boundaries and objectives to provide the precise support your case requires while protecting legal strategy and ensuring admissibility.
This framework allows our partners to select the exact role they need—a confidential strategist, an independent witness, or a court-appointed neutral—with full confidence in the process that will follow.
Note: If you’re referring an immigration matter, our Immigration Evaluation – Service Summary includes a dedicated referral portal specifically for attorneys.
Pathway 1: The Strategic Consultant
(Attorney Work-Product) 👉Pathway One Referral Form
This pathway is designed for counsel seeking a confidential, behind-the-scenes expert to serve as a strategic member of the legal team. The work performed under this pathway is intended to be permanently shielded by the attorney work-product doctrine and will not lead to testimony.
Best Suited For:
Early case assessment and viability analysis.
Developing psychologically-informed case theory and legal strategy.
Critiquing an opposing expert’s work to prepare for deposition or cross-examination.
Assessing a client's presentation and credibility in a privileged context.
Core Function: To serve as a confidential thought partner to the legal team, providing candid, unvarnished psychological insights to strengthen the case from within.
Key Characteristics:
Strictly Confidential: All communications and work product are protected and intended for the legal team’s internal use only.
Strategy-Focused: The primary goal is to assist in legal strategy, not to produce a discoverable expert opinion.
Flexible & Responsive: Engagements can range from a single case analysis report to ongoing consultation on trial preparation.
Pathway 2: Independent Forensic Evaluations (attorney-retained),
(Protected, Arm's-Length Engagement) 👉Pathway Two Referral Form
For engagements where expert testimony is, or may become, a possibility. Structured to meet admissibility standards under FRE 702 and Daubert while protecting attorney work-product privilege.
Service Options
1. Independent Forensic Evaluation (IFE) of a Client
Comprehensive evaluation including record review, clinical interview, and psychological testing.
2. Rebuttal Report / Critique of Opposing Expert
Review and critique of an opposing expert's report, methodology, analysis, and conclusions.
3. Specialized Research Review for Testimony
Comprehensive review of scientific literature to form an expert opinion on the state of research relevant to a specific psychological issue in your case.
Two-Stage Process
Our approach gives you strategic control over expert designation while maintaining scientific rigor.
Stage 1: Protected Analysis & Verbal Report
The complete forensic work is conducted under attorney work-product protection. The psychologist acts in a consulting capacity. Work performed varies by service:
IFE: Record review, clinical interview, and psychological testing
Rebuttal/Critique: Review of opposing expert's report, data, and methodology against professional standards
Research Review: Review of scientific literature relevant to the specified psychological issue
Findings are communicated verbally. You receive the expert's conclusions before deciding whether to designate them for testimony. If you decline, the work remains privileged.
Flat fee: $3,500 (Research reviews quoted upon referral review)
Stage 2: Written Report & Testimony Preparation
Triggered by your designation decision. A written forensic report is prepared in compliance with FRCP 26 (or state equivalent). The report, notes, and data become discoverable. The psychologist is prepared to defend findings in deposition and trial.
Flat fee: $2,000 for written report. Deposition prep and testimony billed hourly under separate agreement.
Methodology
Multi-source data collection including review of relevant records, structured clinical interviews (where applicable), psychometrically sound testing (where applicable), and collateral interviews as appropriate. Written reports attribute information to sources, consider contradictory data, and are prepared as standalone documents for the court.
Pathway 3: The Court-Appointed Evaluator
(Court-Ordered or Stipulated Agreement) 👉Pathway Three Referral Form
This is our most straightforward pathway, used when Dr. Long is appointed directly by the court or retained as a single, neutral expert by agreement of all parties (stipulation).
Best Suited For:
Court-ordered mental health or competency evaluations.
Custody or parental fitness evaluations where the court requires a single, neutral expert.
Any scenario where the expert's primary duty is to the court or to provide objective findings to all parties simultaneously.
Core Function: To serve as an agent of the court, conducting an objective evaluation and providing findings to the trier of fact or all parties as directed by court order.
Key Characteristics:
No Confidentiality: There is no attorney-client or work-product privilege with any single party. Communications are transparent and the final report is typically provided to the court and all litigants.
Unwavering Neutrality: The engagement is defined by complete objectivity and adherence to the scope of the court's order.
Direct Process: The process follows a clear path: receipt of the court order, collection of records, evaluation of the subject, and submission of the final report.
Pathways at a Glance: A Comparison Table
| Feature | Pathway 1: Strategic Consultant | Pathway 2: Independent Expert Witness | Pathway 3: Court-Appointed Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core Function | Confidential "thought partner" to the legal team. | Objective, "arm's-length" expert for potential testimony. | Agent of the court providing findings to all parties. |
| Primary Goal | Strengthen legal strategy. | Form a defensible expert opinion. | Fulfill a court order with objectivity. |
| Privilege | Permanent Work-Product. Intended to never be disclosed. | Conditional. Protected until expert designation, then discoverable. | None. All work is transparent and provided to the court/parties. |
| Best For When... | You need to develop strategy or assess case merits behind the scenes. | You need a potential testifying expert for an evaluation, rebuttal, or research review. | The court orders an evaluation or all parties agree to a single, neutral expert. |
| Deliverable | Internal memos, strategic advice, psycho-legal analysis for counsel's eyes only. | Stage 1: Verbal report to counsel. Stage 2: Formal written report for discovery. |
Formal written report filed with the court and served to all parties. |
| Get Started | Initiate Consultation | Initiate as Expert | Initiate as Neutral |
Pathway 1: Strategic Consultant
Pathway 2: Independent Expert Witness
Stage 2: Formal written report for discovery.