Autopsy Expert Witness and Litigation Support

Our mission at Path Counsel is to support the legitimate claims of your clients with legally defensible medical analysis and opinion. As an established and recognized expert in the specialty of Medical Pathology, we will partner with you to provide:

• Medical record review 
• Microscopic slide evaluation & tissue pathology reporting 
• Formal discoverable or confidential non-discoverable report preparation 
• Legal depositions and trial testimony 
• Private Autopsies 

Path Counsel is fair and compassionate – we guarantee the medical complexities of your case will be in good hands.

We welcome the opportunity to meet with you to understand your current or anticipated medicolegal needs.

Stephen E. Godfrey, M.D., located in St. Louis, MO has twelve years of experience as the Medical Director for Peace of Mind Private Autopsy Services.  He is a recertified Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology in both Anatomic and Clinical Pathology.  Dr. Godfrey performs private autopsies, exhumation autopsies, second autopsies, forensic autopsies, and review of findings from previous autopsies for a range of clients including private individuals, legal firms, and health care institutions.

An important aspect in the litigation of medicolegal cases when death has occurred is the evaluation of findings from autopsies or other postmortem studies.  This is true for both plaintiff and defendant in civil litigation, and for prosecution and defense in criminal cases.  Dr. Godfrey's investigation of each case is supported by correlation with the medical literature, along with his own lengthy personal experience.  He provides both oral nondiscoverable opinions and formal documented reports, depending on clients' needs and preferences.  His cases have often involved depositions and trial testimony as well.       

Dr. Godfrey also maintains an active clinical practice, and therefore he is not vulnerable to potential efforts by opposing counsel to disqualify expert witnesses who no longer practice their specialty.  Such full time expert witnesses can be portrayed as unqualified to render opinions on the standard of care in their specialties, but Dr. Godfrey is not susceptible to this maneuver.   His medical staff memberships include St. Louis University Hospital.  He is the perennial Secretary-Treasurer for the Society of St. Louis Pathologists, and he is a Fellow in the College of American Pathologists and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists.

Peace of Mind Private Autopsy Services includes the investigation of occupational lung diseases, particularly those from asbestos exposure.  Dr. Godfrey has provided this service to multiple legal firms with an emphasis on such cases, in the greater St. Louis area and nationally.  These references are available upon request. 

Other medicolegal areas in which autopsy investigation can be important include medical malpractice, nursing home neglect, workman's compensation, criminal defense, and insurance claims.  In medicolegal cases not involving death, an important aspect of their litigation is often the evaluation of pathologic and laboratory findings in the medical records from treating institutions and physicians.  Dr. Godfrey provides such services through his related enterprise Path Counsel Pathology Legal Consultations.