Real problems, brought by real clinicians, handled by a lawyer who is also a therapist.
I have provided legal guidance and consulting services to therapists and psychologists on matters spanning the entire range of practice from entity formation, legal and regulatory compliance, ethical challenges, employment-related matters, etc.
Every matter below is a real problem that a licensed mental health professional brought to me, described without identifying details. Most clinicians arrive with a version of one of them.
I am both a California attorney and a licensed marriage and family therapist. I have sat in the clinician’s chair, and I read a subpoena, a consent form, or a board regulation with that experience in mind. My law and consulting practice serves mental health professionals exclusively.
Clients have included marriage and family therapists, clinical social workers, professional clinical counselors, psychologists, dual-licensed clinicians, and group practices employing associates and psychiatric nurse practitioners. They practice throughout California, and several are out-of-state clinicians with a California problem.
Nearly all of this work is performed for a flat fee quoted in advance.
Practice Formation and Entity Structure
California clinicians generally may not practice through an LLC. The correct vehicle is a professional corporation formed under the Moscone-Knox Professional Corporation Act, and the details matter.
Professional corporation for a solo LMFT. A therapist moving from sole proprietorship to a corporation needed the entity formed correctly the first time. I formed the professional corporation, prepared its governing documents, and then reviewed the practice’s client-facing documents so that every form reflected the new entity.
Psychological corporation with an S-corporation election. A psychologist wanted the tax advantages of an S-corporation without compliance gaps. I handled the formation, drafted license-specific bylaws, assembled a complete corporate records binder, and prepared an independent contractor agreement for a clinician joining the practice.
Bylaws compliance review. A clinician with an existing professional corporation was unsure whether the bylaws satisfied California law. I reviewed them against the Moscone-Knox Act and the applicable licensing statutes and identified the provisions requiring correction.
Clinical and non-clinical lines under one roof. A practice owner wanted to add wellness offerings alongside psychotherapy. I advised on whether a separate entity was warranted, how to keep the two lines distinct, and how to describe each to the public.
Out-of-state entity, California clients. A clinician operating through another state’s LLC asked whether that entity could continue serving California telehealth clients. I analyzed the foreign-registration question and the limits California places on the entities through which licensed clinicians may practice.
Compliance Reviews: Intake Documents and Websites
Most intake packets are inherited from a supervisor, a colleague, or a template written for another state. A compliance review finds the gaps before a client, an insurer, or a licensing board does.
Pre-launch review for a telehealth psychologist. A psychologist opening a solo telehealth practice, billing through an insurance platform, wanted her documents checked before seeing her first client. I reviewed her informed consent, payment authorization, release of information, and emergency contact forms, together with her website. She received a detailed compliance memorandum and a step-by-step implementation checklist.
Intake and e-signature workflow. The same clinician’s record system permitted only one signature per form, with no initials or fillable fields. I identified a compliant workflow that kept her existing system and avoided the cost of a second platform.
Multi-phase review for a family therapy practice. A practice owner wanted everything examined at once. The engagement covered a website audit, the Notice of Privacy Practices, the website privacy policy, HIPAA documentation, intake forms, and a dual-role policy.
Website review before launch. A newly formed group practice asked for a compliance review of its website before it went live. I delivered a punch list, reviewed the corrections in a second pass, and added the disclosures required for the practice’s telephone and text-messaging system.
A borrowed policy document. A clinician launching a part-time telehealth practice planned to adapt a colleague’s office policies from another state. I explained why the document did not fit California law and her scope of practice, and proposed a rebuilt document set in its place.
Subpoenas and Records Production
A subpoena or records demand usually arrives with a short deadline and language written to alarm. The first decisions carry the most risk: what to produce, what to withhold, and what never to say to opposing counsel.
Subpoena duces tecum in a workers’ compensation matter. An LMFT received a subpoena for a former client’s records with a compliance date only days away. I reviewed the subpoena for procedural and privilege defects, advised on her obligations, and worked with her to finalize the response before the deadline.
California deposition subpoena served on an out-of-state provider. A group practice in another state received a California deposition subpoena directed to one of its clinicians. The clinician’s malpractice carrier had declined to assist. I concluded that the subpoena carried no compulsory force over a non-resident, and then prepared correspondence to counsel on both sides seeking its withdrawal.
Records demand from a former couples-therapy client. A former participant in conjoint therapy demanded the complete file while a family law case was pending, and copied opposing counsel. I analyzed the access rights of each participant, prepared a document-by-document production determination, reviewed the redactions, and transmitted the production as counsel within the statutory deadline.
Records request in civil litigation. A psychologist received a request for a deceased former patient’s records through a records retrieval service, supported by a family member’s authorization. I advised on the validity of the authorization, the statutory response deadline, the custodian-of-records affidavit, and notice to the malpractice carrier.
Multistate Practice and Telehealth
Licensure follows the client’s location, not the clinician’s. When either one moves, the questions multiply: which state’s law governs, which entity may be used, and who may supervise whom.
A clinician who relocated and kept her California caseload. A clinical social worker licensed in several states moved out of California and continued to see California clients by telehealth. I advised on entity registration, on the tax questions to raise with her accountant, and on the structure of her out-of-state practice alongside the California work.
Supervising California associates from another state. The same clinician supervised associates at California group practices. I identified the issues her supervision arrangement needed to address and scoped a written supervision agreement and supervisee acknowledgment.
An out-of-state group practice with a California connection. A group practice based in another state, with one California employee, needed to understand how far California legal process could reach its clinicians. I answered that question and set out the practical steps for responding.
New Programs and Service Lines
A new service line raises scope-of-practice, liability, and documentation questions that a standard intake packet was never written to answer. The time to resolve them is before the service is marketed.
Adding medication management to a therapy practice. A group practice owner wanted to offer psychiatric medication management through an independent nurse practitioner. I analyzed how liability would be allocated between the practice and the prescriber, revised the independent contractor agreement, and drafted an informed consent for medication management in English and Spanish.
A non-traditional model of service delivery. A clinician developing a practice outside the conventional office setting needed a legal roadmap. I prepared a multi-phase plan addressing confidentiality, documentation, and the regulatory questions particular to the model.
Wellness services alongside psychotherapy. A practice adding non-clinical wellness offerings needed clients to understand which service they were receiving. I reviewed a separate informed consent for the wellness line and a dual-role policy governing clients who might use both.
Ongoing Counsel and Clinical-Legal Consultation
Some questions do not arrive as a single project. They arise in the middle of clinical work, and they call for someone who understands both the law and the treatment room.
Standing retainer for a practice owner. A practice owner retains me for regularly scheduled consultations plus advice by email between meetings. The arrangement provides a fixed monthly cost and a lawyer who already knows the practice.
Mandated reporting questions. A clinician facing an ambiguous disclosure needed to know whether a report was required, and needed the reasoning documented. I prepared a written consultation memorandum that she could place in her file.
Ending couples therapy. A clinician needed to terminate a conjoint treatment under difficult circumstances. I advised on the legal and ethical obligations involved and on how to document the decision.
Contractor and staff agreements. I have drafted and amended independent contractor agreements for clinicians and for a practice manager. I also prepared a role-change agreement when a team member’s position shifted within a practice.
Consulting for Law Firms and Training
Attorneys and organizations also call on the dual credential, usually when a legal question turns on how psychotherapy actually works.
Training for a federal agency. I delivered a four-hour training to a federal agency’s employee assistance program on the laws and ethical rules governing EAP work and on mental health in the workplace.
Consulting for counsel. I accept consulting engagements from attorneys on psychotherapist-patient privilege, confidentiality, and the boundary between clinical and non-clinical roles. These engagements are quoted on a phased flat-fee basis.
How Most Engagements Begin
Many of the matters above started as a $200 Written Consultation: one focused legal question, answered in a written memorandum within one to three business days.
For some clinicians the memorandum is all that is needed. Where more work is warranted, the memorandum closes with a defined scope and a flat fee, so the cost is known before any commitment is made.
If your situation resembles one of these matters, or none of them, a Written Consultation is the place to start.
The matters described on this page are illustrative. Identifying details have been omitted or altered to protect client confidentiality. Every matter turns on its own facts, and these descriptions do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of any future matter.