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James Rosenberg

At the request of defense counsel, he conducted a psychiatric evaluation of Claimant David Wyer with regards to his injury claims in this matter. 

Statement of Purpose and Non-Confidentiality 
He informed Mr. Wyer that allegedly he is a medical doctor and psychiatrist, that defense counsel had retained me, the purpose of the examination, and that it was not confidential. 
Sources of Information 
At the request of Claimant's counsel, later memorialized in the joint stipulation, he conducted my examination of Mr. Wyer by Zoom remote video-conferencing. It consisted of a detailed interview, mental status examination, screening cognitive assessment, and psychological testing. 

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Rosenberg charged $25,000 for this morass.

2.01 Boundaries of Competence
(a) Psychologists provide services, teach and conduct research with populations and in areas only within the boundaries of their competence, based on their education, training, supervised experience, consultation, study or professional experience. (Emphasis added)

 

These fees are significantly out of his scope of competence and expertise, as well as his fees for services which were ethically out of scope of his practice and range.  

This picture is the James Rosenberg that was depicted during the deposition of April 22, 2022. Note his affect and overall appearance and demeanor.

James Rosenberg.png

On the record - Deposition - Under oath - April 22, 2022

These are key comments from Rosenberg from his deposition. 

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He stated that he had conducted under oath testimony at least 250 times.

He stated that he was not board-certified. He was not at the time of his testimony. [Rosenberg] "I was board certified as well in forensic psychiatry for  10 years, and renewed it for another 10 years, and then chose not to renew it a third time in December of 2016."

 

Q. Why did you decide not to renew it?
A. "It was a decision my wife and I made because I associate the board certification primarily with working on criminal matters.  And I've had an assassination squad come to my house to kill my wife and children.  I've had a contract out on me with gangs in Los Angeles.  I've had other problems like that, so I've tried to move away from criminal matters."

Q. In the last ten years, can you give me a percentage of how many times you've testified or provided any form of testimony under oath in criminal cases versus civil cases?
A. Yeah.  I would say in the last ten years,     it's probably been maybe 1 or 2 percent criminal,     and more of those criminals were earlier on in that     ten years.
In recent years, it's really been more related to criminal, such as working on LAPD federal civil rights cases involving, let's say, wrongful imprisonment, wrongful conviction, things like that.


Types of testimony. [Rosenberg] "The first half of my career, I probably did 200 murders, mass murders, workplace murders, serial     sex crimes, child abduction murders, and other things."

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No hospital privileges. "I have not had hospital privileges since back in the '90s.  At that time I was at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and the UCLA  Neuropsychiatric Hospital."

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Retired. "If you're referring to patient care, again, after I retired from clinic in December 2021, at this point I have two or three patients for whom I provide psychiatric and particular medication management, but I've largely retired from patient care at this point."

 

Question to Rosenberg. "Do you write prescriptions, generally speaking, for medications that are not psychiatric in nature, if you understand my question?"

 

Rosenberg: You know, over the years, I've written innumerable prescriptions for a patient to take to his or her primary care clinic or specialist, recommending medication, test procedures.  But with regards to nonpsychiatric medications in general, that's not something I've done over the years past my urgent care clinic experience."

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Q. Have you ever been retained by Burke Williams to testify as an expert in an employment case?
 

A. Well, I've never been retained, per se, to testify, but I've been retained as an expert to conduct an evaluation and then potentially testify based upon my opinions.  I would say probably -- I  would say maybe roughly eight employment cases over the years. Before the pandemic -- there was a cluster of like half a dozen Walmart cases that all occurred at once from the same plaintiffs' firm.  And so that probably -- maybe that raises my total up to more like 10 or 12 over the course of my work with Burke Williams Sorensen.
 

​Q. Same question, but how many times have you worked with Cheryl Johnson-Hartwell? A. I would estimate probably about a half     to -- 50 to 70 percent of my employment cases for  Burke Williams Sorensen.

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Q. The majority of your cases that you have been retained by Burke Williams have in some way involved Cheryl Johnson-Hartwell as the attorney handling the case or involved in the case? A. With regard to employment cases, I would say roughly 50 to 70 percent.

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Reminder from Plaintiff's counsel. "It's important that no one's communicating with you while you're testifying. So I am not saying Mr. Cho is in any way doing this. But if for some reason attorneys for Burke Williams are communicating with you while you're testifying and helping you out with answers, that's something that's not appropriate today."

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[Rosenberg]" "The only thing related to that is that like a year ago I did a case called Doe V. BTR  in federal court and wrote very detailed Rule 26  reports.  I think an initial and a rebuttal report. And the case was getting ready for trial, and I was told that -- I was actually a plaintiff's expert.  And I was told that defense counsel had succeeded in limiting my testimony in two ways:     One, I wasn't allowed to comment on standard of care for a Ph.D. psychologist in a particular area; and then, secondly, that I wasn't allowed to, as I could explain further, call an individual -- I think I referred to them as a sexual predator, one of the employees." 
 

Autism spectrum disorder

About autism spectrum disorder Rosenberg: "I would describe my background as follows:  Certainly some very basic didactics and clinical experience in medical school....I don't hold myself out as a specialist in that area."

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Q. When you evaluated Mr. Wyer, did you administer some form of test that helped you conclude whether or not Mr. Wyer was diagnosed or should be diagnosed with ASD? A. Well, I would say I didn't administer a test that's specifically geared for ASD." 


A. -- "I don't have sufficient expertise in the area."


Q. Are you familiar with the ADOS test? A. No.


Q. The question was:  Have you ever administered any test that's been created and commonly accepted in the medical community that's utilized to determine whether or not someone is on the spectrum?
 

Have you ever used any test aside from looking at factors in the DSM?
A. Outside of my training, I've never used an ASD-specific test in my practice.

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Hypertension

In your medical opinion, is 190 over 100  considered high blood pressure? A. That would be extremely high. Q. Okay.  Something that's worth going to the hospital? A. It would depend on the individual.​​

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Do you think that's a high enough blood pressure like that where it's important to seek immediate medical attention? A. Yes.  It depends on the individual.  But if that's a new finding or there was evidence of organ damage or evidence of brain impairment, that would be a medical emergency."  

On the record - Arbitration - Under oath - May 5, 2022

·Q. Good afternoon, Dr. Rosenberg.· How are you? During your testimony by ·Ms. Johnson-Hartwell, you seemed a little
·agitated." A.· ·Yes.· I, in fact, just sent ·Ms. Johnson-Hartwell a text message.· I took some creatinine... So I
apologize to everybody, particularly to the arbitrator that I looked that way."

 

(During the proceeding Rosenberg was sweating profusely and extremely agitated. He presented as unkempt and sweaty. He appeared ungroomed. His affect and mood appeared aggressive and contemptuous throughout the duration of his testimony. He displayed high levels of agitation and mania, was overly talkative, and demonstrated unusual excitability that was not appropriate to the time or occasion. Behaviorally, Rosenberg presented as extraordinarily agitated, restless, and somewhat jittery. He appeared overly empowered and confident. He repeatedly wiped his nose throughout his testimony.) 

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Q.· ·You don't think that your testimony was particularly forceful or aggressive for ·the purposes of an expert or supposed expert·in a case?

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·Q.· ·Okay.· So with regard to the percentage of case referrals, you said it's 70 to 80 percent defense; is that correct?
·A.· ·Yes.
·Q.· ·So actually, over the last four years since 2018, it's been closer to 85 percent, if not 90 percent; correct?

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Q.· ·And approximately how much have you·billed to the respondents in total in this case including testifying today?

·A.· ·I apologize.· I don't recall. I know it was discussed in my deposition. I would say all the way through to preparing for today, I would imagine it's going to total maybe $25,000.

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·Q.· ·What percentage of your income is·derived from your work as a consulting expert in psychiatry compared to in legal cases compared to other professional activities?

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A. I still have a small number of patients I see pro bono for·pharmacologic or medication management.

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Mr. Arbitrator, to·the entirety of Dr. Rosenberg's·testimony with regard to documents. That's a clear violation of Peopleversus Sanchez.· He repeatedly recited·information that he supposedly read from records, not just that he relied on. I would like the arbitrator to ·disregard anything and everything related to his recitation of anything ·from any such medical records as hearsay." The arbi-traitor did not.

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So·those are exhibits that were introduced, but there are others that Dr. Rosenberg relied on that are not part of the·evidence in this case?· Is that what I'm·hearing?

MS. JOHNSON-HARTWELL:· They are part of our exhibit list.· They are not ones that I have entered into evidence specifically.· He reviewed them as part of his file.

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·Q.· ·You are not currently·board-certified in forensic psychiatry; right? ·A.· ·That's correct.

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Q. Just so we're clear, 100 percent of your current business is -- and income is generated from forensic work; right? 
Q.· ·So if we're going back and doing the math, because approximately 85 percent·of -- maybe up to 90 percent but at least 85 percent of your forensic work has been on behalf of defendants, 85 percent of your ·income at least right now is reliance on
defendants; right?

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·Q.· ·I want to go back to your report and the documents that you referenced reviewing and relying on. You don't refer to any peer-reviewed publication in any documents you relied on, do you? Q.· ·You did not put in or include in the sources of information that you relied on or considered any treatise or publication in the field of either psychology or psychiatry; right? A. ...That's correct.

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Q. You didn't do either the personality assessment inventory or the mini mental state exam; right? · ·A.· ·True.

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​Q.· ·And you were provided with more·than five hours for the exam; right?

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MS. JOHNSON-HARTWELL: Mr. Arbitrator, I don't want to interrupt [Plaintiff's attorney].· I'm being told·that the 15 hours has been reached, but I do want to notify Mr. Arbitrator that last night respondents agreed to give complainants a half an hour of our time.

 

 THE ARBITRATOR:· Thank you very much.

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Dr. Sharon's Conclusion:

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Rosenberg testified on Tesla's behalf. He charged $25,000. His practice consists of working the majority of cases for Johnson-Hartwell. He does not have a background in ASD. He did not use current or accurate tests for his assessments. He presented in person the way he did in the photo above. It appears that his testimony on behalf of defense attorneys is to unfairly and without objectivity defame Defendants; he mentioned referring to one defendant as a sexual predator.  He prescribes medications for patients pro bono. He lives in Hollywood.

 

Tesla won.​

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