Richard Lichten - Expert Consultant Consultant to law firms, criminal and civil, both plaintiff and defense; public agency defense; prosecutors, and the media
661.406.7258
Consultation services to law firms, criminal and civil, both plaintiff and defense; public agency defense; prosecutors, and the media Richard Lichten, (Lieutenant Retired) - Expert Consultant Richard Lichten brings 30 years of front-line law enforcement experience to a wide range of police and jail topics. Twenty of his 30 years on the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were in supervisory and command positions. See About for profile. Primary areas of expertise: • Citizen v. Citizen self-defense cases (personal weapons, knives, and firearm usage) • Use of force in patrol and in jails • De-escalation techniques • Incidents involving the mentally ill • Vehicle and foot pursuits • Emergency Code 3 driving • Handcuffing injuries • Officer-involved shootings both lethal and less lethal weapons • General patrol tactics and police practices • Use of the TASER and Pepper spray • Evidence examination, evaluation, and analysis. • Wheelchair user suspects: contact and control • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it relates to law enforcement • Incident and arrest report writing • Security guard duties v. sworn peace officer duties • Use of Spit mask – Hood Jail areas of expertise: • Jail/prison suicide, jail medical care, inmate culture, jail-made weapons (shanks), jail suicide, jail medical care, jail food service, inmate safety checks, possession of narcotics for personal use vs. for sales in state prisons, and inmate housing. • Mr. Lichten has been the on-scene commander in over 100 major inmate disturbances/riots involving a few inmates to over 2000 inmates, and has lectured in several states about this topic. • Mr. Lichten has supervised the safe removal of many barricaded hostile and violent inmates in the jails. • Mr. Lichten has supervised the use of the Restraint Chair, Safety Cells and Sobering Cells to ensure policies and procedures are followed to keep inmates safe. • Mr. Lichten is certified as an Arrest-Related and In-Custody Death Investigative Specialist from the Institute for the Prevention of In-Custody Deaths (IPICD). • Disabled prisoners/inmates and the Americans with Disabilities Act. • Classifying and Managing Transgender & Transsexual Inmates and the Americans with Disabilities Act Services: • Case review and consultation • Determine whether the officer’s actions were in line with the policy and procedures of his/her agency • Determine whether the agency’s policy and procedures were in line with generally accepted practices • Expert witness testimony Attorney Client Comments: I wanted to express my sincere recommendation for Mr. Lichten as a security and policing expert. I have retained him as an expert both on a plaintiff's use of force case, and in defending a negligent-security case. Each time I have used Mr. Lichten, he has provided thoughtful and well-researched reports, and, more importantly, has provided me with insight that assisted me in my case work-up. He made himself available throughout the cases, and helped me secure excellent results each time. ﷯ We were thrilled with Mr. Lichten’s assistance in our case, which ultimately helped resolve the matter. Mr. Lichten’s command of the facts, understanding of the issues in the case, and preparation, were unmatched. Should the need arise in the future, we will not hesitate to call upon Mr. Lichten’s expertise once again. Mr. Lichen was retained to assist in a civilian use of force case, and was instrumental in our success. He went above and beyond the call and spent significant time with both client and attorney and truly put in the effort to obtain the best results. His testimony on the stand was authoritative and complete, giving the jury a clear picture of the issues surrounding our case. Thank you for all of your hard work on our case. Rick Lichten provided expert witness services on a death in custody case I handled. He jumped in, immediately understood the issues, and provided prompt analysis and an on-point expert report not only advancing our case, but highlighting shortcomings in the opposition’s report. In addition to the expert insight, he was always available, positive, followed-up, and made the extra effort to ensure our case was as strong as it could be. A United States Federal Court Judge said this of Mr. Lichten: “Mr. Lichten bases his expert opinions upon his thirty years of experience and the written policies of the Honolulu Police Department. Mr. Lichten has been certified as an expert by numerous federal and state courts in the field of police practices. The Court finds that Mr. Lichten has the requisite skill, education, training, and experience to testify as an expert about police practices.” "We used Mr. Lichten as our correctional expert in a jail death case here in Illinois. His knowledge of the deficiencies in the County's policies and procedures was outstanding. He promptly provided us with his report. Additionally, he provided us with a supplemental report after we deposed another correctional officer based thoughts he gave us to use during the deposition. These two reports were critical to us obtaining a great settlement from the County. I would, and have, recommended Mr. Lichten's expert services." “Rick, I just wanted to send my sincere thanks for your stellar efforts in this matter. The expert report was extremely thorough and drove home the core issues beyond a reasonable defense. The mediator was very pleased that he could "spend all (his) time on damages as liability was no longer an issue". Those are great words for a plaintiff's attorney to hear early in the morning on mediation day. I enjoyed your approach to these matters and your responsiveness was top notch. I look forward to our next Assignment.” "Rick is a seasoned expert in excessive force and other law enforcement areas. As an expert witness, he’s also extremely prompt, thorough, and made us feel like a priority client at all times." “Rick prepared excellent and thorough reports for us, performed quite well on the witness stand, and was a valuable resource in terms of strategy and looking around corners on issues related to his areas of expertise.” “I have retained Mr. Lichten in several jail-related lawsuits as the defense expert and have settled cases pre-suit based on his expert review and recommendation. Mr. Lichten has always made me feel like my cases are the most important cases he has ever worked on, and has always made me feel like I am the most important client he has ever worked with. Mr. Lichten is a true expert in this area and his knowledge and experience are absolutely invaluable. Mr. Lichten is also very responsive, timely, extremely professional, always prepared and - most important - honest. Mr. Lichten is the “gold standard” and you will be impressed." “I have practiced law for 40 years in Georgia and South Carolina. My practice is now based in Atlanta. I recently retained Richard Lichten to consult on a 1983 prisoner abuse claim. My mentally disordered client was assaulted by another inmate, resulting in a broken arm. The facts were complex. Richard helped me identify each possible breach. Richard recommended that I examine the case for a possible ADA violation which would greatly strengthen the claims. Richard helped me identify the gaps in my records, the gaps in my narrative, additional information needed to be developed; how the law might be applied; how to understand the jailers’ responsibilities from the jailers’ perspective. He helped me understand the “prison culture” among the inmates. Richard consulted with, and identified, other colleagues who would be helpful. Richard is professional, objective, methodical, responsive and expeditious. I would not be able to ask for more. I intend to call on him when I am presented with my next prisoner rights/abuse case.” "Mr. Lichten is a valuable resource. In our jail-suicide case, he quickly absorbed the universe of facts, boiled them down to the important pressure points, and revealed discrete areas for the "deep dive" during discovery. I recommend getting Mr. Lichten involved early. He is remarkably proactive and provides a substantial head start in the litigation." “Rick is the greatest expert I have ever dealt with. He always answered my calls right away and provided one of the best written reports I have ever seen...was able to get an amazing deal on a murder case in large part to the work performed by Mr. Lichten....simply put, he's the best at what he does!” "Mr. Lichten was extremely helpful in pretrial discovery and resolution. His assistance in preparing subpoenas to law enforcement which targeted specific documents and movements of inmates was critical. Oftentimes information is shielded from discovery because attorneys do not know the particular name of the report or even that such information is tracked. Using the expertise of Mr. Lichten you will have the insight you need to better serve your client." "Rick was a tremendous help in defending my clients (a County Sheriff’s Department and its officers) in a civil rights case involving the tragic death of an inmate. He is extremely knowledgeable and was always immediately available for my questions and for all necessary trial preparations. I would highly recommend his services." “I met Rick Lichten this winter. He was the retained expert in a police procedures case (use of force and proper tactics) for our office. Rick was professional, responsive, prepared, attentive and works well with people. He explains his opinions in lay language and does so in an affable manner. It is my opinion that the trier(s) of fact listened to his testimony and give it great weight with favorable results.” “Working with Rick was an absolute pleasure. I found him to be extremely knowledgeable, willing to go beyond the call of duty, and extremely passionate about pursuing justice for his clients. I would strongly recommend Rick and look forward to working with him again in the future.” “Stop searching for an expert in self-defense! Richard Lichten is the only expert you need . He is honest in his evaluation of the case and his experience has no equal . With his help I was able to build a solid self-defense case in a bar room stabbing brawl . The prosecutor in the case told me he will be lucky to get a hung jury . Of course we will get the acquittal.” “I practice primarily criminal defense, as well as, select personal injury and civil rights cases. I recently used Mr. Lichten as an expert witness in an excessive force lawsuit filed in federal court. Mr. Lichten provided valuable insight and work during my client’s case and highlighted several fundamental flaws with the defendant officers’ conduct during their so-called investigation. He was very up front and objective with his analysis. He made himself available for any follow-up questions and was proactive in staying current with the case as it was being litigated. The case ultimately settled favorably in a conservative jurisdiction. I would recommend Mr. Lichten as an expert in any case where police practices and procedure are at issue – criminal or civil. “ “I am a managing partner at a law firm. I used Mr. Lichten as an expert for a federal civil rights lawsuit against a local county jail for excessive force, denial of medical attention, and failure to train. Mr. Lichten was diligent, truthful, and concerned about our deadlines. His attention to detail and accurate judgments made him the perfect expert to hire. I feel that his report and deposition was a driving force behind the county finally breaking down and settling with us. I highly recommend Mr. Lichten as an expert in the field of corrections, police procedures and jail procedures. Whether for the defendants or the plaintiffs.” “So the verdict came in...NOT GUILTY on count 2 (the third strike charge)! My client was so happy. I literally hugged him right on the spot! I can't thank you enough, on behalf of both myself and the defendant. You were key to helping us get this verdict. I can promise you that we will be working on many more cases in the future and that I will sing your praise to everyone in my office. i just can't thank you enough.” “My firm had the pleasure of speaking to Richard Lichten regarding jail and prison practices. I was very impressed by the depth and extensiveness of his knowledge. His assistance helped direct our discovery inquiries and allowed us to both obtain and analyze information critical to our case. If you plan to retain an expert in the fields of police and jail practices and procedures, look no further than Richard Lichten.” “My firm was recently involved in an unprovoked peace officer excessive use of force litigation wherein our client suffered permanent nerve damage. Our burden was to show the force used was excessive and beyond the “reasonable peace officer’ standard. We were fortunate to find Richard Lichten of Police and Jail Procedures. Richard was professional, informed and very, no, make that extremely thorough in his investigation. My firm is constantly bombarded with experts’ resumes, but if any come in for a police use of force expert they go right in the trash. There is ONLY one such expert this firm will ever use in the future. I cannot recommend Richard enough.” "My client was charged with two counts of felony assault on police officers. I retained Rick Lichten to provide consultation. I was pleased to find that Mr. Lichten is the most knowledgeable and efficient police practices expert I have ever had on a case. His knowledge and preparation is beyond anything I have ever encountered in my practice since 1974. Please hire Mr. Lichten for any police procedures case. You will be hiring the best." Call for a consultation - 661.406.7258

Email - richardlichten@ca.rr.com

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