ilpsychlaw.com
Philip Pan, M.D.
AAPL Forensic Psychiatry Review Course, 2022
Forensic Psychiatry
Forensic psychiatry is usually defined as the sub-specialty of medicine in which psychiatric knowledge, techniques and science is applied to legal issues. For the most part, forensic psychiatrists utilize their expertise in performing evaluations in a legal context, to answer some legal or administrative question. There are certain types of patient care (correctional psychiatry, sex offenders, very violent psychiatric patients) that also fall under the purview of forensic psychiatry. In the criminal justice system, defendants might be evaluated by forensic psychiatrists as to their fitness to stand trial, sanity or mental state at the time of the alleged defense. In a civil forensic evaluation, a psychiatrist might evaluate a person regarding their need for guardianship, disability, fitness for duty or render an expert opinion if medical malpractice has occurred.
The role of agency (who the forensic psychiatrist owes a duty to) is very different than in general clinical practice. In a treatment setting, a psychiatrist owes a fiduciary duty to his or her patient; the patient can expect that a treating psychiatrist will act and advocate in the patient's best interest in order to address their mental health needs. In a forensic consultation, the psychiatrist owes his or her duty to the referral source, which may be the court, a governmental agency, an insurance company or opposing counsel in a lawsuit. Although a forensic psychiatrist is held to perform an independent evaluation which is as objectively truthful as possible, the forensic psychiatrist does not owe a responsibility to somehow better the fortunes of the person being evaluated.
Forensic psychiatrists generally are paid more like lawyers than a physician in clinical practice and thus may require a retainer ahead of time which hours of work will be billed off of. Although attorneys may agree to contingency fees, this is considered unethical in the field of forensic psychiatry. It is also considered to be a major ethical breach to write a report or provide testimony which is not objective and is designed solely to benefit the client (a.k.a., being a ‘hired gun’). Health insurance generally does not cover forensic evaluations, as such evaluations are not related to treating a person's mental health needs.
Forensic psychiatrists do not treat dead people (although there is an evaluation known as a psychological autopsy, in which the goal is to reconstruct a deceased person's mental state at a point in time before their demise), nor are they profilers, as portrayed in the popular media. Most profilers are experienced law enforcement investigators who have undergone additional training in the behavioral sciences, such as at the FBI Academy's National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime.
Other resources about forensic psychiatry
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
55th Annual Meeting, 10/24/24 - 10/27/24: Vancouver, BC, Canada
56th Annual Meeting, 10/30/25 - 11/2/25: Boston, MA
57th Annual Meeting, 10/26/26 - 11/1/26: Tampa, FL
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Midwest Chapter
40th Annual Meeting, 3/22/23 - 3/23/24: Milwaukee, WI
41st Annual Meeting, dates TBA: Grand Rapids, MI
Tulane Forensic Psychiatry Symposium
12 - 13 April 2024: Tulane Bywater Building, New Orleans, LA
During the French Quarter Festival!
National Commission on Correctional Health Care
Forensic Psychology
As I am NOT a forensic psychologist (and the training and certification is quite different),
I hope that the following links might be of some assistance: