Themis Expert Witness, LLC
Expert witness services for the West Coast
California · Washington · Oregon
Medical and financial expert witness services for civil and criminal litigation — founded by Dr. Alvaro Alban, MD, MBA, board certified in emergency medicine, with over twenty years and 150+ matters behind the opinion.
Dr. Alvaro Alban, MD, MBA
Board certified in emergency medicine
Dual credential
MD, MBA
Practice areas
13 specialties
Jurisdictions
CA · WA · OR
Testimony
In person & remote
An opinion built for the standard that actually governs
Expert admissibility is not one test across the West Coast. California applies the Sargon gatekeeping analysis under Evidence Code sections 801 and 802. Washington retains Frye general acceptance for novel scientific evidence. Oregon works from its own Brown and O’Key framework. Federal matters across the Ninth Circuit apply Rule 702 as amended in December 2023.
Those are genuinely different tests. A report drafted without regard to which one governs is a report drafted for the wrong forum, and it is the kind of problem that surfaces at the motion to exclude, when there is no time left to fix it.
Screening is free, and honest
Send the posture of your matter — jurisdiction, claims, and the schedule you are working under. You will get a candid read on which expert discipline the issue points to, whether the materials look suitable for expert review, and whether the matter needs one expert or two.
Where the materials will not support the opinion you were hoping an expert could give, you will hear that on the first call rather than after a retainer has been spent and a deposition has gone badly. Screening does not include legal analysis, evaluation of claims or defenses, or calculation of deadlines.
Meet the expert
Dr. Alvaro Alban, MD, MBA
Board certified in emergency medicine with formal training in finance, Dr. Alban has spent more than twenty years as an expert witness and has supported over 150 civil and criminal matters for plaintiff, defense, and prosecution counsel. He founded Themis Expert Witness, LLC to give West Coast attorneys a single, credible point of contact for medical, financial, and technical expert testimony.
He personally handles emergency medicine and medical causation. For every other discipline, he sources, vets, and manages an independently credentialed expert — so the opinion in your case always comes from someone qualified to give it.
- Board certification
- Emergency medicine
- Expert experience
- 20+ years
- Matters supported
- 150+
- Retained by
- Plaintiff · defense · prosecution
Areas of expertise
Thirteen disciplines across civil and criminal litigation. Dr. Alban personally handles emergency medicine and medical causation; every other specialty is covered by an independently credentialed expert he sources, vets, and manages.
Medical Expert Witness
Standard-of-care analysis, causation opinions, and medical records review for malpractice, personal injury, and criminal matters.
Learn moreFinancial Expert Witness
Economic damages, financial analysis, and quantification testimony for commercial disputes and civil litigation.
Learn moreForensic Psychologist Expert Witness
Competency, criminal responsibility, emotional distress, and psychological injury evaluations for court.
Learn moreToxicology Expert Witness
Drug, alcohol, and chemical exposure analysis — impairment, dose-response, and cause-of-death opinions.
Learn moreForensic Pathologist Expert Witness
Cause and manner of death, autopsy review, and injury interpretation for homicide, wrongful death, and civil claims.
Learn moreInsurance Expert Witness
Coverage disputes, bad faith claims, industry custom and practice, and claims-handling standards.
Learn moreReal Estate Appraisal Expert Witness
Property valuation, eminent domain, diminution in value, and appraisal-standards testimony.
Learn moreVocational Economist Expert Witness
Lost earning capacity, employability, life-care planning, and future economic loss calculations.
Learn moreForensic Accountant Expert Witness
Fraud investigation, asset tracing, embezzlement analysis, and financial reconstruction for civil and criminal cases.
Learn moreBusiness Valuation Expert Witness
Fair market value opinions for shareholder disputes, marital dissolution, and buy-sell litigation.
Learn moreArchitectural Expert Witness
Design defect, code compliance, standard-of-care, and construction-document disputes.
Learn moreConstruction Site Safety Expert Witness
OSHA and Cal/OSHA compliance, fall protection, site-control duties, and construction accident causation.
Learn moreStructural Engineer Expert Witness
Structural failure analysis, seismic performance, construction defect, and building collapse investigation.
Learn moreWhere we serve
State and federal courts across the West Coast, in person and by remote deposition.
CA
California
Applies the Sargon standard to expert testimony in state court. Federal matters proceed under C.D. Cal., N.D. Cal., S.D. Cal., E.D. Cal..
California practice notes →WA
Washington
Applies the Frye standard to expert testimony in state court. Federal matters proceed under W.D. Wash., E.D. Wash..
Washington practice notes →OR
Oregon
Applies the Brown/O'Key standard to expert testimony in state court. Federal matters proceed under D. Or..
Oregon practice notes →Case studies
Anonymised accounts of matters where expert analysis changed the posture of a case.
TRO Defense: Petition Dismissed After Independent Medical Review
How an independent medical review dismantled the factual premise of a temporary restraining order petition.
Read the case study →Personal Injury: Causation Reconstructed From the Medical Record
Separating pre-existing degenerative change from acute traumatic injury in a disputed liability claim.
Read the case study →What attorneys say
“Just wanted to thank you again for your assistance in this matter. As usual, your testimony was absolutely flawless. So glad we retained you!”
“The reports for the client are beautiful. Thank you. I really know how you sacrificed and got this done with all the other stuff you have going on.”
“Thank you for your great work dissecting those medical records and helping with our defense strategy. Your input was invaluable.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions from retaining counsel. Longer answers on cost, admissibility, process, and logistics are on the FAQ page.
An expert witness is a qualified specialist permitted to offer opinion testimony on matters beyond ordinary experience, because their training helps the trier of fact understand evidence it could not otherwise evaluate. Unlike a fact witness, an expert may draw conclusions from the evidence. Courts screen both the expert's qualifications and the reliability of the reasoning behind the opinion before it reaches a jury.
Start by defining the precise opinion the matter needs, not the specialty label. Send the posture — court, claims, disputed issues, and the schedule you are working under — and you will get a candid read on which expert discipline the issue points to and whether the materials look suitable for expert review. Preliminary screening is complimentary. It is limited to identifying a potentially appropriate expert discipline, checking availability and conflicts, and assessing suitability for expert review; it does not include legal analysis, evaluation of claims or defenses, calculation of deadlines, or an opinion on whether a lawsuit is viable.
No. Dr. Alban personally provides opinions in emergency medicine and medical causation. For every other discipline, an independently credentialed expert in that field is identified, vetted, and placed, with Dr. Alban remaining involved through report review and trial preparation. No expert testifies outside their own qualifications — doing so is one of the most reliable ways to get an opinion excluded.
It depends on the forum. California state courts apply the Sargon gatekeeping analysis under Evidence Code sections 801 and 802. Washington retains the Frye general-acceptance test for novel scientific evidence alongside ER 702. Oregon applies its own framework from State v. Brown and State v. O'Key. Federal courts throughout the Ninth Circuit apply Federal Rule of Evidence 702 as amended in December 2023, and Daubert.
Expert fees are billed hourly and vary with the discipline, the volume of records, and whether the matter proceeds to deposition or trial. Record review is typically billed at a base hourly rate, with deposition and trial testimony at a premium or against a half-day or full-day minimum. A written fee schedule is provided before any engagement begins, and preliminary screening itself is free.
Yes. Remote deposition testimony is routine across California, Washington, and Oregon, and remote or hybrid trial testimony is permitted in many courts subject to the judge's discretion and local rules. Remote availability materially reduces the travel component of expert cost, which matters most where the technical issue is significant but the case value will not support flying an expert across the country.
Read every question on the FAQ page →Admissibility standards and litigation resources →
Complimentary consultation
Discuss your matter with Dr. Alban
Preliminary screening is complimentary. Send the posture of your matter — jurisdiction, claims, and the schedule you are working under — and Dr. Alvaro Alban, MD, MBA will identify the expert discipline the issue points to, check availability and conflicts, and tell you candidly whether the materials look suitable for expert review before you retain anyone.
- Service area
- California, Washington, and Oregon — state and federal courts, in person and by remote deposition.
- Phone
- (862) 319-8643