Overview

Dr. Maria Root has been licensed in the state of Washington for 20 years. For the past 15 years, she has worked with attorneys as an expert witness to perform psychological evaluations to determine whether or not psychological damages exist related to the events alleged in the lawsuit. She also provides expert opinion independent of evaluations that may be based upon research in the field, state of the art practice, or medical records review. Her areas of expertise are in cultural and racial minority mental health issues, gender issues, trauma and disordered eating. She has published, served on various national committees and boards, and received awards for her work in all of these areas.

Two main areas of focus encompass the majority of Dr. Root’s work in the legal arena. Both draw on her expertise on the diverse responses to stress and trauma and human resilience. Her psychological evaluations place behaviors in culturally relevant contexts. She also provides psychological evaluations to assess whether or not damages have occurred in alleged employment discrimination due to race, ethnic origins, and or gender.

Dr. Root’s background in psychological assessment, teaching, public speaking, and writing enables her to write reports that do not contain unnecessary jargon. Lawyers, their clients, juries, and judges can comprehend them. She is able to orally convey psychological concepts to juries.

Based upon questions the attorney poses for evaluation, Dr. Root asks for background material relevant to the case, e.g., EEOC claims and reports, medical records, personnel files, interrogatories, police reports, and depositions. If she is going to administer an MMPI-2, it is typically taken and scored before she interviews the individual. If someone has grown up outside of this country in a culture that is very different than North American or European based cultures and for which norms are not available for the possible tests normally administered, she may choose not to provide testing. After completing a review of materials, testing, and the interview process, Dr. Root consults with the attorney who has retained her to provide her initial impressions. She will write a comprehensive report or a brief opinion upon the attorney’s instruction.

Retainer and Fees

Dr. Root requires a $2500.00 retainer to set aside time to work on a case. This retainer assures that this work or evaluation is placed on her calendar. Dr. Root accepts a limited number of cases. The attorney is the client and held responsible for fees.

Dr. Root works against the retainer according to the following rates. Fees are $185.00 an hour for all work performed in her office such as but not limited to reviewing files, phone calls, interviews, and reports, written opinions, or affidavits. Testing with each administration of the MMPI-2 is a flat $185.00. If further testing, such as an intelligence test is required, there is a charge for this testing based on an hourly fee stated above. A fee of $275.00 an hour is assessed for services performed outside of her office such as deposition and testimony. At those times, the charges begin once she leaves her office until she returns.

If a client does not show up to a scheduled interview appointment or less than 24 hours notice is given for cancellation, full fees will be charged for the time set aside. If 48 hours notice is given to cancel an appointment, only 50% of charges will apply for the time set aside.

If a written report is required, it will clearly exceed the retainer. The report may not be released until final payment is received.

Depending on the case for which an attorney retains Dr. Root, the documents needed to review include but are not limited to all employment records related to commendations, corrections, relevant company policies, and evaluations; medical records (including counseling records and hospital records); Social Security and or disability records; the complaint; any related EEOC filings and findings; depositions; and any other background material deemed relevant for Dr. Root to proceed with the evaluation.

Lawsuits in which Dr. Maria Root has provided deposition or testimony

Petrilli v. Livingwell Lady (1992)
Lekha v. Jefferson County Hospital (1992)
Zacher v. Strub, M.D. (1993)
Guitisarn v. Los Angeles County Police Department (1993)
Gibson-Gonzales v. Crescent Foods (1995)
Lucas v. J.C. Penney (1995)
Hairston v. Seattle City Light (1996)
Williams v. Boeing (1997)
Martin v. Northwest Composite (1997)
Harris v. State of Washington (1998)
Thomas v. AT & T (1998)
Jones v. Boeing (1998)
Railing v. Skagit Area Transit (1998)
Ghirmai v. Northwest Airlines (1999)
Sanders v. Boeing (2000)
Blackwater et al. v. Government of Canada and United Church of Christ (Canada) (2000)
Howard et. al. v. King County et. al. (2001)
Martin v. Rent-a-Centers (2001)
Hadley v. Larson Motors (2001)
Herrington v. Spirit of Washington (2001)
Carlson v. Northland Cable Television (2001)
Velasquez v. United States Postal Service (2002)
Ray v. Van Waters & Rogers (2002)
Pinney v. Nordstrom Inc. and Nordstrom (2002)
Goh and Nishiyama vs. American President Lines, Flesher, and Sylte (2004)