Consultations

HCI consultation for individuals, management and organizations takes place over Zoom or by phone.

HCI does not give legal advice or base consultations on application of law and legality. HCI consultation is based on education in high conflict individuals and situations, and managing the damage they can cause. If you are an individual, you are welcome to have your attorney present for the consultation.

Send only the most relevant documents that pertain to your consultation (if they exist). These typically include legal documents, communication threads (email, texts, and others) or other written communication. Our consultants take 30 concentrated minutes to review relevant documents. In more complex situations, some clients opt for a package that includes more review time.

No. While we work a great deal with the legal community, we recommend interviewing three or more attorneys in your area before making the personal decision of who to work with. Your local Bar Association or Law Society are a solid resource for getting started and may have recommendations for attorneys experienced in high conflict cases. Check Bill Eddy's Splitting book for a list on how to choose an attorney in a divorce proceeding.

No. We do not offer therapeutic advice as part of our consultations. Consider interviewing three or more therapists before making the personal decision of whom to work with.

HCI consultants will keep all consultation information confidential, per our Consultation Agreement, and will not voluntarily release confidential information.

Choosing a lawyer, therapist or other professional is a personal preference. Professional confidentiality is governed by state laws which are somewhat similar across the US. HCI consultants have neither obligations nor protections as Educational Consultants. Mandated reporters are only those specifically set forth in the state laws.

Regarding obligations, for example, California Clinical Social Workers are only mandated to report child abuse and elder abuse when serving in the role of social worker. Lawyers, mediators and consultants are not listed as mandated reporters. When HCI speakers/consultants give an Educational Consultation on general patterns of high-conflict behavior and general methods of dealing with them, we are not mandated reporters and will keep all consultation information confidential, according to our Consultation Agreement, except as described below.

Regarding protections, we will not voluntarily release confidential information. However, because HCI consultants are not serving as lawyers or therapists or mediators, we cannot block proper subpoenas from lawyers and court orders from judges to release written information or to testify in court.

An option in cases where our consultation client has a lawyer, in the lawyer’s discretion, our consultant can be hired directly by the lawyer and therefore have confidentiality under the lawyer’s “work product” privilege for all conversations we have with the lawyer and/or the client.