Psychiatrist As Expert Witness

Thomas G. Gutheil, M.D., is professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School; cofounder of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center; and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is a past president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law and the current president of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. The textbook, Clinical Handbook of Psychiatry and the Law, coauthored with Paul S. Appelbaum, M.D., and now in its fourth edition, received the Manfred S. Guttmacher Award as the outstanding contribution to forensic psychiatric literature.

• About the AuthorPreface to the Second EditionAcknowledgmentsChapter 1. Introduction: What makes an expert?Chapter 2. The expert's ethical universeChapter 3. First principlesChapter 4. Types of typical casesChapter 5. Discovery and depositionsChapter 6. The expert in trialChapter 7. Some pointers on expert witness practiceChapter 8. Writing to and for the legal systemChapter 9. Developing and marketing a forensic practiceChapter 10. The expert on the road: Some travel tips for testifying awayChapter 11. EpilogueAppendix 1: Consent form for forensic examinationAppendix 2: Standard fee agreementAppendix 3: Detailed fee agreementAppendix 4: Suggested readings and web sitesGlossaryIndex

The second edition seems to retain the best of the previous edition, while updating and improving it extensively to mirror the current environment for forensic practitioners. The author's writing style is both entertaining and informative, and he has a unique ability to explain even the most complex concepts in an easily digestible manner.Readers benefit extensively from his experience and comprehensive knowledge base. In addition, the valuable appendixes contain sample fee agreements and consent forms, which can be frustrating and time consuming to construct from scratch. This should be on the reference shelf of both new and experienced forensic practitioners.The second edition of Dr. Gutheil's classic for nonforensic and new forensic psychiatrists issignificantly revised and better than the first, but retains its conveniently small size. The book is concise, well organized, and eminently readable. The principles are clear and the advice very practical, with many case illustrations and examples of the author's dry wit (don't try that during testimony).Dr. Gutheil's guide for the expert witness is a bright lighthouse for practitioners who are eager to navigate the difficult yet exciting waters of forensic psychiatry. Psychiatrists new to the forensic arena ill greatly benefit from the author's exhaustive experiences and gain confidence in undertaking this type of work.