Clinicians in Court
A Guide to Subpoenas, Depositions, Testifying, and Everything Else You Need to Know
A Guide to Subpoenas, Depositions, Testifying, and Everything Else You Need to Know
Allan E. Barsky and Jonathan W. Gould
Note about Distribution: Not available in Canada
Mental health and human service professionals are often called on to give evidence or expert testimony in a range of circumstances, including family law and child welfare trials, mental health hearings, malpractice lawsuits, criminal trials, government hearings, and private arbitration. Interacting with the legal system poses many potential challenges, but adequate preparation and a basic understanding of legal processes and terminology can make the experience a more positive one. This volume provides practical information and proven guidelines to help clinicians from any background understand their role in legal proceedings--and participate effectively, ethically, and with minimal stress. Special features include helpful checklists and samples of affidavits, retainer agreements, and other materials that can be adapted for use in the reader's own practice.
-Child Abuse and Neglect
"Masterful...a great practical boon to nonlawyers who desire some basic understanding of the unfamiliar province of law....A sound road map, well-designed to guide clinicians obliged to traverse the vexing labyrinth of law. By helpfully demystifying some of the tools and armaments of law and litigation, the volume's contents may lessen tensions and trepidations abounding at the interface of law and clinical practice....An excellent witness-preparation resource that should prove to be quite intellectually nourishing to a legion of readers who may choose to imbibe its edifying contents, including mental health and human services professionals as well as clinicians and therapists drawn from disparate professional backgrounds but potentially tethered to the law."
-American Journal of Psychiatry
"The authors...are eminently qualified to author this book....This book should energize and qualify more social scientists and clinicians to get involved in the criminal justice system....Provides useful information for a clinician on such important issues as confidentiality and the legal aspects of disclosure....I found this book very useful to my continuing practice, and I highly recommend it to any clinician who will at some point in his or her professional career become involved in the complexities of the judicial system."
-Criminal Justice Review
"An excellent guide for nonforensic clinicians....Reading Clinicians in Court is like attending a good workshop. It provides basic training for psychiatrists and other clinicians who likely find themselves pulled into disputes at some point in the course of their careers. Barsky and Gould have written a handy guidebook for navigating the legal system"
-Psychiatric Services
"This extremely user-friendly book, written by a lawyer and mediator and a psychologist, takes the readers by the hand and carries them through the legal process, 'translating' legalese into clear English and demystifying what otherwise constitutes for many professionals a rather dreaded experience. Highly recommended."
-American Journal of Orthopsychiatry
"This is not only a concise and helpful book for practitioners, it is also an excellent text for students in ethics and forensics courses. Written in accessible language, it is a valuable classroom resource."
-Beverly Greene, PhD, ABPP, Department of Psychology, St. John's University
"This book has become required reading for my graduate-level course on social work and the law, and I believe no clinician should step up to the witness stand without having read it."
-Kevin J. Corcoran, JD, PhD, Graduate School of Social Work, Portland State University
1. Introduction
2. Beginning with Yourself
3. First Contact
4. Preparation for Legal Proceedings
5. Oral Testimony at an Adjudication
6. Clinical Records
7. Expert Witnesses
8. Documentary Evidence
9. Claims against Clinicians
10. Alternatives to Adjudication
11. Conclusion
Epilogue
Glossary
Appendices
A. Service Agreement for an Expert Witness for Review/Rebuttal Services
B. Fee Arrangement for an Expert Witness Who Is Called to Testify
C. Informed Consent to Participate in a Forensic Psychological Evaluation
D. Initial Letter to Attorneys after an Appointment Order
E. Sample Affidavit
Allan E. Barsky, JD, MSW, PhD, is Professor of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University.
Jonathan W. Gould, PhD, ABPP, is in private practice in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he is a principal in the Charlotte Psychotherapy and Consultation Group.
Mental health practitioners, including clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and family therapists and counselors; students and residents in these areas. Will also be of interest to human service workers, agency administrators, and policymakers, as well as legal practitioners seeking to educate potential witnesses.
Serves as a primary text in professional training courses and seminars on serving as an expert witness, and as a supplemental text in graduate-level courses on forensic mental health practice and mental health law.