Dr. James provides a variety of forensic psychological services including forensic mental health evaluations, expert witness testimony, attorney consultation, and case preparation. Typically, forensic services are court-ordered, attorney-retained, or referred by an agency such as the Department of Social Services, Law Enforcement Agency, or other third party.  Because forensic services are provided for the referring agency, they can not be billed to insurance companies.  Reasons include: the services are not deemed "medically necessary" for examinee (they may be legally or occupationally necessary) and privilege and record ownership (owned by the retaining party or court, not the examinee) belong to the retaining party rather than the examinee.  When selecting an evaluator, it is crucial to retain someone with knowledge of the governing legal statutes as well as ongoing training in the area of psychology and the law.

Attorney Consultation

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Case planning and strategy support

Review and critique of mental health records/evaluations

Preparation for direct and cross examinations

Training to attorneys and paralegals regarding issues of 

mental health within the legal system

 

Agency Consultation

Threat assessment

Psychological consultation in homicide investigations

Risk management

Training to medical/mental health staff regarding forensic vs clinical work

School threat assessment and management training and policy consultation 

 

Forensic Evaluations & Expert Witness Testimony

 

Civil

​​Child custody/parenting plans

Child abuse/neglect 

Fitness for duty

Guardianship/conservatorship

Independent psychological evaluations

Mental/psychological injury

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Criminal - Adult and Juvenile 

Criminal competencies

Criminal responsibility

Mental status at the time of the offense

Mitigation

Sex offender evaluation

Violence risk assessment

Anger management assessment