The Psychiatrist as Expert Witness

A lifetime of forensic wisdom is crystalized in this highly readable, practical guide. No book is better for the beginning expert. Phillip J. Resnick, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine Even better than the classic first edition! No expert witness should set foot in a courtroom without reading this wise, informative, and user-friendly guide written by a giant in the field. An invaluable gift to both beginning and seasoned experts. Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., Diplomate in Clinical Psychology

The Psychiatrist as Expert Witness, Second Edition, by Dr. Gutheil, is a highly readable and practical update of his successful first edition. The focus of the new volume is to guide readers to become, improve, and successfully market a career as a psychiatric expert witness.

Forensic psychiatry is growing in popularity, and many a practitioner feels the urge to explore this fascinating realm of endeavor. The second edition of The Psychiatrist as Expert Witness, by Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D., is a highly readable and practical guidebook for those interested in entering the field while navigating the dangers inherent in courtroom testimony. This volume is a thoroughly revised and updated edition of his highly successful first edition. The earlier edition has been used in nearly all forensic psychiatric training programs in the U.S. and Canada since its publication in 1998.

A professor of psychiatry at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center-Harvard Medical School, Gutheil draws on his decades of experience in the courtroom and countless beginner's mistakes to help readers avoid the pitfalls of serving as an expert witness. While of great value to newcomers to the field, the book offers insight and guidance to early-career and seasoned expert witnesses as well.

As in the first edition, this volume explores the role of the expert witness, moral issues, basic principles, depositions and trials, writing for the court, and ethical marketing. Besides the requisite updating of references and suggested readings, this latest volume features expansions and additions of particular benefit to prospective expert witnesses:

• A glossary of useful terms
• Expanded definitions of key concepts
• A lengthened discussion of bias in testimony
• Additional illustrative examples
• A model forensic consent form for examination
• Cases and principles that have arisen since the first edition

The Psychiatrist as Expert Witness provides the practical, hands-on mentoring and guidance that were not readily available in the past. Concrete advice replaces abstract theorizing, and informal discussion in a user-friendly tone replaces scholarly discourse. These attributes combine to make this a book that is highly accessible and usable in real world courtroom settings.

While some in society decry the expert witness function, the courts will continue, from all evidence, to require expert witness testimony in...read more...