Ms. Shreya Mandal, JD, LCSW
Shreya Mandal JD, LCSW has been contracting as a capital mitigation specialist with the Military Commissions Defense Organization (MCDO) since May, 2020. She provides capital defense mitigation for a high value detainee in Guantanamo, Cuba, while working alongside a team of 22+ military and civilian experts. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York State. Ms. Mandal has 25 years of combined forensic and clinical experience, with extensive educational training and field practice. Her foundational training is in capital defense mitigation and she has mitigated 18 death penalty cases to date. She also brings trauma focused mitigation to non-capital sectors and has worked on a full spectrum of non-capital cases. Ms. Mandal collaborates with human rights organizations and law firms in both public and private sectors. Her interdisciplinary background gives her a holistic approach to trauma informed mitigation and forensic advocacy. Ms. Mandal's current forensic practices are in the areas of capital defense mitigation, criminal defense mitigation, immigration defense.
Shreya Mandal has been serving as an expert witness since 2005 and has qualified to render expert testimony in both federal and state courts in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. She is designated as an expert witness in numerous specialty areas including, PTSD/Trauma, forensic social work, and as a mitigation expert on death penalty cases. In the immigration sector, Ms. Mandal provides cross-cultural evaluations for families facing extreme hardship and torture. She has worked with thousands of families, leading to cancellation of removal or asylum in the United States. In 2019, the New York City Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) appointed Ms. Mandal as an expert witness to the New York Unified Court System 18b panel, in both criminal and family courts, in all five boroughs of New York City. She is also a trained mediator and maintains a New York City based psychotherapy practice, focusing on global mental health issues.
Ms. Mandal received her Master of Social Work degree from Smith College School for Social Work and a Juris Doctorate degree from Rutgers Law School. She has considerable specialized post-graduate interdisciplinary training. Ms. Mandal is a graduate of Spence Trial Lawyers College, Death Penalty Seminar. She is also a graduate of Harvard Medical School/ Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, where she received post-graduate training in Global Mental Health, Trauma, and Recovery. Ms. Mandal is fluent in Bengali.
Through a generous fellowship with the Historical Society of New York Courts, Shreya Mandal is a Judith S. Kaye Visiting Professor in Humanities and the Law at the Bard High School Early College- Queens. She is also an adjunct assistant professor at The City University of New York, where she teaches both graduate and undergraduate coursework. She is a chapter author of the textbook, Forensic Social Work: Psychosocial and Legal Issues Across Diverse Populations and Settings, Second Edition, Chapter 23, Expert Witness Testimony in Forensic Practice and Justice Systems. Ms. Mandal is also an active partner of Barnard College at Columbia University's Rosemary Furman Counseling Center.
- Criminal Law
- Drug Abuse
- Emotional Trauma
- Forensic Psychology
- Immigration
- Personal Injury
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Psychology
- Sexual Abuse
- Q: Please list your professional accreditations, degrees, licenses, and certificates granted:
- A: Global Mental Health, Trauma & Recovery, 2015
Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist, 2007
New York Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 2016
Juris Doctorate, 2003
Master of Clinical Social Work degree, 1999 - Q: Please list any teaching or speaking experience you have had, including subject matter:
- A: New York University Silver School of Social Work, Adjunct Faculty (Fall, 2017 to May, 2020)
Social Work & Law
Advanced Social Policy in Criminal Justice
Advanced Social Policy in Children and Families
The City University of New York
Teaching:
Criminology 102
Criminal Justice 100
Policing 201
- Q: Have any of your accreditations ever been investigated, suspended or removed? (if yes, explain)
- A: No.
- Q: On how many occasions have you been retained as an expert?
- A: 5000+
- Q: For what area(s) of expertise have you been retained as an expert?
- A: 1) Criminal proceedings (sex offender; felony drug cases; capital defense; non-capital felonies)
2) Immigration Proceedings (removal; Bengali Expert; psychological evaluations; hardship assessment for asylum claims.)
3) Asylum cases, mental health expert.
4) Assessment of Battered Women's Syndrome and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
5) Social Work Expert in Personal Injury cases involving Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, mTBI - Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the plaintiff?
- A: For Personal Injury Cases- 100%
- Q: In what percentage of your cases were you retained by the defendant?
- A: For Criminal Defense Cases- 100%
For Immigration Cases- 100% - Q: On how many occasions have you had your deposition taken?
- A: 30+
- Q: On how many occasions have you been qualified by a court to give expert testimony?
- A: 100+
- Q: On how many occasions have you testified as an expert in court or before an arbitrator?
- A: 100+
- Q: For how many years have you worked with the legal industry as an expert?
- A: 17
- Q: What services do you offer? (E.g.: consulting, testing, reports, site inspections etc.)
- A: consulting; reports; biopsycho-social assessments; mitigation reports; consulting; risk assessment; treatment
- Q: What is your hourly rate to consult with an attorney?
- A: $200 per hour with private counsel. I offer flate rates for non-profit/public interest law firms.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to review documents?
- A: $150 per hour.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide deposition testimony?
- A: $200 per hour.
- Q: What is your hourly rate to provide testimony at trial?
- A: $250/hr depending on the level of detail and circumstances of the case. I offer flate rates for non-profit/public interest law firms.
- Q: Please list any fees other than those stated above (E.g.: travel expenses, copy fees, etc.)
- A: travel expenses should be reimbursed.
References upon request.