Services
A reliability review of the causation opinion
For plaintiff and defense attorneys handling infectious-disease, HIV, STI, exposure, transmission, source-attribution, standard-of-care, or causation disputes. The review is medical and scientific and reaches no legal conclusions.
What the review examines
- Population-to-individual causation. Whether group-level evidence — relative risk, incidence, per-act probabilities — is used to support an individual causal attribution without a legitimate bridge, such as a sound specific-causation methodology, sufficient risk magnitude, or individuating evidence.
- Use of HIV transmission probabilities. Whether per-act, per-exposure, or route-specific figures are applied in a way the cited literature actually supports, given the specific facts.
- Source-attribution overreach. Whether claims that a particular source caused a particular infection — including interpretation of phylogenetic or viral-sequence evidence — stay within what that evidence can establish.
- PrEP / PEP / U=U / viral suppression reasoning. Whether prevention efficacy and undetectable-equals-untransmittable are represented accurately, including timing, adherence, and viral-load considerations.
- Differential-etiology adequacy. Whether alternative causes were genuinely considered — surfaced for counsel's judgment, not adjudicated.
How you engage the reviewer
The reviewer is typically retained as a non-testifying consulting expert. In that role, the analysis is generally treated as consulting work product under the applicable rules of civil procedure, subject to their exceptions; how those rules apply in your matter is counsel's determination. A testifying engagement can be discussed separately where appropriate.
Deliverables
Reliability review memo
For each load-bearing causal claim: the opinion quoted verbatim, the specific reasoning concern, a plain-language explanation, and suggested lines of inquiry.
Deposition support
Focused question areas and scientific background for examining the expert.
Rebuttal support
A scientific basis to inform a responsive expert or motion, with sourcing counsel can independently verify.