EducationDr. Mark Levy, a
Distinguished Fellow of the
American Psychiatric
Association , is a graduate of the Columbia University
College of Physicians and
Surgeons, a diplomate of the American
Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry with Subspecialty in
Forensic Psychiatry and a graduate of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute.
He also received Forensic Psychiatric Training from
the American
Academy of Psychiatry and Law, Forensic Psychiatry
Review Course, and the Osler Institute's Forensic
Psychiatry Review Course. Forensic Psychiatry, Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis
For
almost thirty years, Dr. Levy has been practicing
clinical psychiatry and psychoanalysis full time in Mill
Valley, California. In addition, during the past fifteen
years he has devoted a substantial portion of his
clinical practice to forensic psychiatry,
providing independent medical evaluations (IME's) and
expert forensic psychiatric opinion and Consultation
nationally for plaintiff and defense trial
attorneys, major insurance carriers and the courts. He
has consulted on approximately 165 medical-legal cases,
has been deposed more than 50 times and has testified in
State and Federal Court on 13 occasions.
Academic Positions and Teaching Since 1976, Dr. Levy has been on the clinical faculty of the
Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California at San
Francisco, where he is currently an
Assistant Clinical Professor. He is also on the faculty at the
San Francisco Psychoanalytic
Institute, where he teaches psychoanalytic candidates. Public
Service He presently serves as Chairman, and
immediate past President, of the San Francisco Foundation for
Psychoanalysis, a community outreach and service organization of psychoanalysts and community members, that Dr. Levy founded in 1994 at the San Francisco
Psychoanalytic Institute and Society. He is also a former officer and Board member of the
San Francisco
Psychoanalytic Institute and Society.
Forensic Psychiatry Professional
ActivitiesTogether with the
Bar Association of San Francisco, Dr. Levy helped establish an educational program for attorneys focusing upon psychological issues. Within this program, he has spoken on a broad array of issues covering the interface
of law and psychiatry, as well as other matters affecting the two disciplines. The topics he's discussed include Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sexual Harassment, Psychological Trauma and Abuse, Psychological Injury,
Stress, Confidentiality, Mental Competency Evaluation, Depression, Psychiatric Malpractice,
Personality Disorders and Litigation, Psychotherapy,
Psychoanalysis, and much more. He has also been a
lecturer and panelist at MCLE events sponsored by the
California State Bar Association, The Northern
California Association of Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute of Chicago, Illinois. Licenses and Certification
IIn
addition to being Board Certified in
Psychiatry (1981) and
Forensic Psychiatry (1999) by the American Board of
Psychiatry and Neurology, Dr. Levy was certified as a
Qualified Medical Examiner for the State of California
in 1993 and maintained his active QME status until 1996
(when he elected to become "inactive"). Professional Organizations He is also a
current or past member of numerous professional organizations including the
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, a Fellow of
the American, California and Northern California
Psychiatric Associations, a member of the faculty
of the San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute and
Society and the Department of Psychiatry, School of
Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, a
member of the American and International Psychoanalytic
Associations and the International Society for Traumatic
Stress Studies, the California Medical Association and
the Marin Medical Society. Media Interviews
Dr. Levy has been
interviewed extensively by the broadcast and print
media. For more than two years, he was the HealthBeat
Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst for KRON-TV4, the then
NBC affiliate station in San Francisco. He has also
appeared regularly as a guest medical expert on KRON's
cable station Bay TV and on San Francisco's ABC
affiliate, KGO-TV7, as well as CBS affiliate KPIX-TV5,
the Fox affiliate KTVU TV2 and the new NBC affiliate,
NBC11 - KNTV. He has also appeared on Cable Network News
(CNN), CNN International, Fox News Channel and on
National Public Radio and local radio stations including
KGO-AM, KCBS-AM, KQED-FM, KNBR-AM, and KSRO-AM.
Finally, Dr. Levy has been interviewed and quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek,
USA Today, Business Week, Reuters International, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, The San Francisco Recorder, and San Francisco Daily
Journal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, California Lawyer Magazine, Parent and Baby Talk, ABC Online, MSNBC, American Health and Penthouse Magazine, among others.
Curriculum Vitae Education
Licenses
- Physician and Surgeon State of California since 1971;
- Drug Enforcement Administration
since 1975;
- Qualified Medical Examiner ("QME")
, State of California, Department of Industrial Relations, Industrial Medical Council
1993 - 1996, currently inactive.
Board Certification
Professional activities
- Full-time private office practice of adult and adolescent general psychiatry and psychoanalysis,
Mill Valley , CA. since 1975;
Founder, former President and Current
Chairman of the San Francisco Foundatioin for
Psychoanalysis.Psychiatric Disability Consultant, State of California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation 1975-90;
Psychiatric Disability Consultant, U.S. Social Security Administration, Department of Social Services, Disability Evaluation Division, Sacramento, CA. 1975-present;
Independent Psychiatric Disability Consultant providing Independent Medical (Psychiatric) Examinations (``IME's") on behalf of individual claimants and insurance companies since 1980.
Board of Advisors: Better Legal &
Business Practice for Psychiatrists and
Psychotherapists
Scientific Advisory Board, The Sapling
Project.
Teaching experience
Assistant Clinical Professor
(teaching both psychiatric residents and
forensic psychiatry fellows)..
San Francisco Psychoanalytic
Institute, Faculty member (teaching courses on psychopathology of the neuroses and character to psychoanalytic candidates).
San Francisco Psychoanalytic Institute Extension Division Committee on Law and Psychoanalysis, founding member, (produced educational programs for the legal community jointly with the Bar
Association of San Francisco).
Hastings College of Law, University of California,
faculty 1997
and 1999 College of Trial Advocacy and guest lecturer to
"Psychiatry and Law" course since 1995.
Medical-legal (Forensic) Psychiatric Experience:
(click
here for a complete list of previous forensic psychiatric consulting cases)
Forensic Psychiatric Expert
since late 1980's, providing Independent Medical Examinations (IME's), consultation and testimony in civil matters.
Summary
of Testifying Statistics: (Click here for current
summary)
More than 150 medical-legal cases
Deposed more than
50 times
Testified in Federal Court and California
State Superior Court trials on 12 occasions.
Ratio
of Cases, Plaintiff: Defense Expert,
approximately 40%:60% (Click here for current
list)
Civil (and occasionally Criminal) Forensic
Psychiatric Expert, testifying about traumatic and non-traumatic psychological injuries including the following:
- Automobile accident induced facial scaring;
- Death of a parent in house fire secondary to product safety failure;
-
Psychological effects upon a parent surviving the murder of their child;
- Psychological trauma from surviving a commercial airplane crash
(treating psychiatrist);
-
Long-term psychological effects from burn injuries following a motorcycle accident;
- Psychological trauma upon an adolescent from death of a parent killed in a house fire caused by a malfunctioning electrical appliance;
- Psychological trauma upon an adolescent from suicide death of a parent following alleged medical malpractice.
- Psychological Effects of quadriplegia in a junior high school student
who suffered traumatic
spinal cord injury during a physical education class;
- Psychological trauma from sexual abuse of child by her grandfather;
- Wrongful employee dismissal;
-
Sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace;
- Job stress;
- Standard of care when prescribing anti-depressant medication;
- Effects of stress upon physical health and/or pre-existing medical conditions,
(e.g., the exacerbating effects of prolonged stress from business dispute upon a congenital, life-threatening cardiac condition);
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following rape,
a parking lot assault or exposure to a utility transformer explosion;
- Alleged PTSD following automobile accidents, industrial accidents, assaults and disputes, (or where physical damages were minimal,
pre-existing psychological illness was substantial and/or substance abuse was evident);
- PTSD where pre-existing physical disability and/or psychological illness was alleged to have been exacerbated by psychological
trauma;
- Toxic Torts: Psychological Consequences of Exposure to Asbestos in the home; or to Tri-chloroethylene (TCE) In the water supply;
- Malingering or Factitious Disorder;
- Stalking
- Competency.
Plaintiff's Counsel Clients Include (but
not limited to):
Alverson, Taylor, Mortensen, Melson
& Sanders (Las Vegas, NV)
Anderlini, Finkelstein, Emerick & McSweeney
Sheldon R. Blum
Peter Brekhus
Russell Cook
Davis, Levin, Livingston
& Grande (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Dezurick, Edginton & Harrington;
Demetrious Eugenios
Furtado, Jaspovice & Simons
Bennett, Rainey, Moran & Gianneschi, Inc.
(Washington State)
Hagan, Saca & Ryan
Hornberger & Criswell
(Los Angeles)
Jeffrey Kallis
Robert B. Kamangar
John E. Lacklen
Kathleen Moura
Romeo & Stevenson
Sachs, Waldman, O'Hare, Helveston,Bogas & McIntosh
(Detroit, MI)
Schwartz,
Steinsapir, Dohrman & Sommers
Sheppard, Weissberg & Miller
Brian Simms,Esq.
William Smith
Sterns, Walker & Lods
Mark L. Webb
Weinberg, Hoffman, Casey & Ropers.
Defense Counsel Clients Include (but
not limited to):
Baker McKenzie
Bays Deaver Lung Rose & Baba
(Honolulu, HI) Betts, Patterson, Mines (Seattle,
WA) Bjork Lawrence
Bronson, Bronson & McKinnon
Brose & Zouras
Bullivant, Houser, Bailey
The Cavanagh Law Firm
Cesari, Werner and Moriarty
Conroy, Shirinian & Mahoney
County Counsel, County of Kern, California
Desurick, Edginton & Harrington
Eriksen, Arbuthnot, Kelly, Herlihy & Bane
Griffith, Saenz & Hill, LLP(McAllen,Texas)
Bruce Imai,Esq. of Imai, Tadlock, Keeny & Cordery
Jacob, Spotswood Casper & Murphy
Kilduff and Day
David Levy
Liebert, Cassidy & Whitmore
Lombardi,
Loper, & Conant
Long & Levitt
Littler
Mendelson
Mahan & Peterson
Mercer & Zinder
Morrison Foerster
O'Connor, Cohn, Dillon & Barr
O'Melveny & Meyers Ropers, Majeski, Kohn, Bentley, Wagner & Kane, P.C.
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold (San Francisco)
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold (Los Angeles)
Selman & Breitman Seyfarth Shaw
Nada K. Sizemore (Connecticut)
State of California, Attorney General's Office,
San Francisco & Oakland
State of California, Department Transportation/Legal
Stephan & Conroy
Bianca Stofone,Esq
Michael Stone Stone & Hiles
U.S. Attorney (San
Jose Office) U.S. Attorney (South Dakota)
U.S. Department of Labor Office of Workers Compensation
Weinberg & Hoffman.
Family Law Counsel Clients Include:
Ronald Grassi, Esq.
Conservatorship Law Counsel Clients Include:
Norman Macleod,Esq.
Criminal Defense Counsel Clients Include:
Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer
Kellog, Huber, Hansen, Todd & Evans
(Washington, D.C.)
Complete Case List Attached.
Insurance Company Clients Include:
California State Automobile Association
Canadian Life
CIGNA
CNA
Fireman's Fund
Hartford Life
Minnesota Mutual Life
Provident
Republic
Royal Maccabees
Scottsdale
Transamerica Insurance
(TIG)
Uttica.
Original Articles:
(Click
here for complete copies of original articles and
quotes - Copies available upon request )
1. ``Stressing the Point: When Are Post Traumatic Stress Claims Legitimate...and When are they Not?" For the Defense, November 1995, Journal of the Defense Research Institute.
2. ``Opting Out of Managed Care," Psychiatric Times, September 1995.
3. ``Managed Care and Mental Health," Op. Ed., San Francisco Examiner, November 20, 1995.
4. ``Depression As A Possible Adverse Effect of Melatonin," Currents, February 1996
5. ``Comment: Criticism and Legal Analysis – Mental Health Confidential," - ``
Patient Confidentiality After Jaffee v. Redmond U.S. Supreme Court Decision," The Recorder, July 24, 1996.
6. "Shrink in the
Courtroom: Forensic Psychiatry and Law" published
in San
Francisco Attorney Magazine December 2000 -
January 2001 published by the Bar Association of San Francisco.
7. "Mental
Illness In the Workplace" published in San
Francisco Attorney Magazine September 2001 published by the Bar
Association of San Francisco
8.
"Deposing Mental Health
Experts on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
(PTSD)," Chapter 716, Lawyers' Guide to
Medical Proof, Volume 4 edited by Marshall
Houts, J.D., LexisNexis Mathew Bender, 2002
9. "Moms Who Kill: When
Depression Turns Deadly" Psychology
Today, December 2002 issue - reprinted with
permission
10.
The
“Eggshell Plaintiff” Revisited: Causation of
Mental Damages in Civil Litigation" Mark I. Levy, MD, DFAPA and Saul E. Rosenberg,
PhD, April 2003 issue of
The American Bar
Association Commission on Mental and Physical
Disability Law Reporter
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