Attorney · Psychologist · Research Scientist
National expert in law and science.
Dr. Barden is a licensed attorney and licensed psychologist. He serves as an expert witness and as a consultant on science-intensive litigation and legislation, with testimony admitted in many state and federal courts and before state legislatures. He has practiced, consulted, or testified in multiple countries and more than 40 U.S. states.
§ 1
Expertise
Professional and public service to defend, reform, and improve the integrity of the legal and health care systems.
Forensic psychology & science expert witness
Expert testimony in family, criminal, and civil cases in many states.
Complex science litigation
Trial work in complex science cases in many states, with record jury verdicts and settlements. National and international media have covered these cases, including the Daubert hearings.
Litigation consulting
Consultation in civil, criminal, and family cases: building teams of national experts and litigators, and excluding junk-science testimony from improper expert witnesses.
Clinical psychology
Assessment and therapy in hospitals, clinics, surgical teams, a U.S. Veterans Administration hospital, major medical schools, schools, and a state prison.
Teaching, training & speaking
Continuing professional education in dozens of states, and invited addresses at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, the University of Minnesota, U.S.C., and others.
Optimal performance systems
Training and consultation for attorneys, surgeons, fighter pilots, athletes, international Olympic coaches, and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Science consultant
Expert consultation for state and federal agencies and private citizens.
Areas of expert opinion
- Standards of care in psychotherapy and mental health practice
- Psychological assessment, testing, and measurement
- Research methodology and the reliability of expert claims
- Child interviewing and the investigation of abuse allegations
- Memory, suggestibility, and witness reliability
- Family law, custody evaluations, and parental alienation
- Frye, Daubert, and Kumho challenges to expert testimony
- Informed consent and the protection of research subjects
Opinions are based on review of the evidence in each case. Dr. Barden offers no diagnostic opinion about an individual without a formal, documented assessment.
Interviewed by
§ 2
Landmark cases & coverage
As an attorney, Dr. Barden's clients have received record jury verdicts and settlements in complex health care and science litigation to reform the U.S. mental health system.
-
1995
Jury awards patient $2.6 million in repressed-memory trial
Verdict found the treating therapist liable.
Gustafson, P., Minneapolis–St. Paul Star Tribune, Aug. 1, 1995 -
1996
Second patient wins multi-million dollar verdict against psychiatrist
Dr. Barden represented former patient Elizabeth Carlson.
“To have an entire treatment method based on junk science is inappropriate.”
Guthrey, M. & Kaplan, T., St. Paul Pioneer Press, Jan. 25, 1996, 4B -
1997
Burgus v. Braun: memory-therapy lawsuit ends in $10.6 million settlement
A record reported settlement in a psychiatric malpractice case, earning Dr. Barden a Trial Lawyer Excellence Award. Front-page coverage. Dr. Barden predicted legislation requiring informed consent for recovered-memory treatment.
“This is the death knell for recovered memory therapy.”
Belluck, P., The New York Times, p. 1, col. 1, Nov. 6, 1997 -
1999
Judge rejects recovered-memory evidence in landmark case
Mooney, T., The Providence Journal, Apr. 28, 1999 -
2001
Malpractice suit nets $2.1 million in mental health case
Pierce County, Washington jury award to Stephen Drummond and his parents; Dr. Barden served as psychologist-attorney for the plaintiff.
Rovella, D. E., The National Law Journal, Feb. 22, 2001 -
2001
Ethics expert speaks out on “rebirthing” therapy; state bans the practice
Lowe, P., Rocky Mountain News, Apr. 13, 2001 · Janofsky, M., The New York Times, Apr. 18, 2001 -
2005
Coercive “holding therapy” on troubled children faces its end in Utah
USA Today, State News, Feb. 15, 2005 -
2011
Texas v. Harris: consultant and expert witness for the Texas Rangers task force
Testimony on behalf of prosecutors in a case that ended in conviction.
Lozano, J., Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, Sept. 20, 2011 -
2015
Markingson case leads the University of Minnesota to suspend psychiatric drug-trial enrollment
Dr. Barden's lawsuit on behalf of a committed patient prompted a Minnesota law barring psychiatrists from recruiting their own patients into their own clinical trials, and a critical report by the state's Legislative Auditor.
Olson, J., Star Tribune, Mar. 20, 2015, A1 · Perry, S., MinnPost, Mar. 20, 2015 -
2015
Texas v. Hay: consultant and expert witness
§ 3
Speaking, legislation & service
With colleagues in law, medicine, and public policy, Dr. Barden drafted the Emergency Medical System for Children Act, published in the Harvard Journal on Legislation and adopted in some form by more than 20 states.
Recent invited addresses
- Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, CLE, 2018
- Harvard University, Department of Psychology, Clinical Science Speaker Series, 2018
- Pacific Judicial Council & American College of Trial Lawyers, Guam, 2018
- American Bar Association, International Law Section, 2011
- World Congress on sports psychology, Beijing Olympics, 2008
Invited national addresses
- American Psychological Association
- American Psychiatric Association
- American Bar Association, Litigation Section
- U.S. Surgeon General's Conference
- International Association of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeons
- U.S. Military Academy at West Point
- F.B.I. regional training meetings
Public service
- Special Assistant Attorney General, State of Utah
- Member, Minnesota Board of Psychology
- Member, Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board
- President, National Association for Consumer Protection in Mental Health Practices, 1994–2004
- Member, Commission for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health
Legislation drafted or advanced
- Emergency Medical System for Children Act
- Truth and Responsibility in Mental Health Practices Act
- Laws banning “rebirthing” and coercive “holding” therapies
- Protections for committed patients in experimental drug studies
Honors
- W. T. Grant Foundation Faculty Scholar Award, 1987
- Foundation for Child Development Young Scholar Award, 1982
- National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
- National Institute of Mental Health Graduate Fellowships
- Phi Beta Kappa
§ 4
Selected publications
Published in, and reviewer or editor for, leading journals in psychology, psychiatry, surgery, pediatrics, and law, including Child Development, Psychological Bulletin, and the Harvard Journal on Legislation.
- 2018
Multi-Disciplinary, Science-Intensive Litigation Reforms Protect the Integrity of the Legal System
Chapter 4 in Koen & Bowers (Eds.), Forensic Science Reform: The Psychology and Sociology of Wrongful Convictions. Academic Press / Elsevier.
- 2017
Foreword
In Pendergrast, M., The Repressed Memory Epidemic: How It Happened and What We Need to Learn from It. Springer.
- 2016
Memory and Reliability: Developments and Controversial Issues
In Radcliffe, Heaton-Armstrong, Gudjonsson & Wolchover (Eds.), Witness Testimony in Sex Cases. Oxford University Press. Foreword by the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales.
- 2013
Protecting the Integrity of the Family Law System
In Parental Alienation: The Handbook for Mental Health and Legal Professionals.
- 2006
Protecting the Fundamental Rights of Children and Families: Parental Alienation Syndrome and Family Law Reform
In Gardner, Sauber & Lorandos (Eds.), The International Handbook of Parental Alienation Syndrome. C. C. Thomas.
- 2006
Amicus curiae brief for defendants and appellants, Elizabeth Loftus, et al.
On behalf of the National Committee of Social, Psychiatric, and Neurological Scientists for Academic Liberty. Supreme Court of California.
- 2001
Informed Consent in Psychotherapy: A Multidisciplinary Perspective
Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 29(2), 160–166.
- 2001
Protecting the Integrity of the Legal System: Eliminating Junk-Science “Expert” Testimony with Science-Intensive Litigation Methods
American Bar Association Litigation Section National Meetings, Phoenix, Arizona.
- 2000
Protecting the Integrity of the Legal System: The Admissibility of Testimony from Mental Health Experts Under Daubert/Kumho Analyses
With W. M. Grove. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 5(1), 234–242. Excerpted in Fisher, Evidence (Foundation Press, 2002).
§ 5
Retaining Dr. Barden
Dr. Barden works with plaintiffs, defendants, and prosecutors in civil, criminal, and family matters, and with state and federal agencies.
Initial call
Describe the case, the parties, the jurisdiction, and the questions you need answered.
Conflict check
Dr. Barden confirms there is no conflict and that the issues fall within his expertise.
Record review
He reviews the documents, records, depositions, and research relevant to the case.
Opinion & testimony
Consultation, written opinions, and testimony at deposition, hearing, or trial as the case requires.
Discuss a case or engagement.
Expert witness work, litigation consulting, and speaking requests from attorneys, agencies, and organizations nationwide.