This psychologist is highest regarded by the courts, but is always siding with the abusers. We are 7 people (7 different divorce cases) who would like to do a class act law suit against him. He makes up "facts" in the case, and refuses to remove them even if his lies are being shown. He is still able to turn the table against the victim and give custody to the abuser, because he has been an expert in divorce cases for more than 10 years.
The judges believe him blind, but now we are so many who can show what he actually does, so we think we could have success in removing him.
Has anybody had experience with this?
To which kind of lawyer do we take it, or is the DA or GA the better place?
Where do we start? We have compared our different evaluations. They almost look photo copied...
Robert Vance SalterDivorce / Separation LawyerWheat Ridge, CO ·
In most cases, the place to bring evidence that contradicts a PRE report is in the divorce itself. If you did not successfully challenge the psychologist's testimony during your court case, there is probably little of value that you can do. The fact is that 50% of the parties that any PRE has ever worked with are likely to be unhappy with the evaluation results. Simply getting a number of people together who did not like the result in their cases is not enough to create any sort of legal claim.
Most of the things you state (including that similar wording is used in different cases and he always favors a certain party) do not constitute any sort of actionable claim. It might be useful for impeachment when the psychologist is testifying, but doesn't point to any particular civil claim. The fact that judges believe the testimony is an indication that you will have a hard time proving any sort of claim.
The one thing you state that might create some sort of actionable issue is your allegation that the psychologist makes up facts. If you can prove that the psychologist is making false statements of material fact in court, that might give you something to work with (although your failure to convince a judge of this during the actual hearing indicates that your evidence may not be as strong as you believe). Assuming that you have evidence to back up that assertion, you do have several options:
Psychologists are licensed professionals and have certain ethical requirements, so you might consider filing a compliant with the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) if you believe that his actions (whatever they actually are) implicate professional ethics.
If you have solid evidence that the psychologist committed perjury - knowingly presented false testimony under oath, then you can report that to the District Attorney's office. You will need to have very strong, unambiguous evidence, however, because it is very difficult to prove perjury beyond a reasonable doubt.
You could also try to pursue some sort of civil action if you can prove that the psychologist breached some sort of duty owed to you.
I don't think you are going to be able to do what you state that you want with respect to filing a class action. A class action requires evidence that all of the plaintiffs were essentially alike. There is no way you will be able to establish that across seven family law cases. Each divorce case is going to be significantly different. However, even without a class certification, you could conceivably bring individual civil claims if you could actually lay out the elements of some tort.
Any sort of civil claim against a licensed professional is going to require a certificate of review attesting that another professional has reviewed your evidence and allegations and found merit in your case. Have you taken your evidence to another psychologist? Do they agree with your conclusions?
Ultimately, the lawyer who is likely to do you the most good is an experienced family law attorney who can help you try to address any ongoing custody or parenting time issues you still have.
