How Attorneys Can Find The Right Forensic Psychiatry Expert Witness
Posted on: 7 April 2020
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There may be a time when you need to work with a forensic psychiatry expert witness to provide insights on a case you're trying for a client. There are a lot of these professionals, but you can be confident in your selection by keeping these tips in mind.
Look Over Qualifications
The first thing you should do when trying to find an optimal forensic psychiatrist expert witness is to look over each applicant's qualifications. You'll then know what sort of professionals you're dealing with and can effectively determine if they can help your case or not.
There are many qualifications to assess, including educational background, noteworthy work in the field of psychiatry, and past accomplishments. Assessing these details will give you the ability to find a competent expert witness who will provide the right details that can strengthen a point you're trying to make in your case.
Go Through Practice Questions
If the forensic psychiatry expert witness is heading to trial, then it's paramount that you ask them some practice questions. You can then see how confidently they can respond and get a sense of their ability to communicate their thoughts and ideas.
Sit down with a couple of forensic psychiatrists and go through questions you believe will come up in court. You can then see what behaviors each professional displays and the amount of detail they can provide. After these practice sessions are over, you should have a better idea of which forensic psychiatrist to bring on board.
Check Into Potential Biases
When a forensic psychiatrist goes to testify for your legal case, it's important that they not have any bias. If they do, then their statements could be thrown out completely and then you'll have to start from scratch. That's why you need to check into potential bias from the very beginning.
Talk to the forensic psychiatrist about the case and the subject matter it involves. If they respond with complete objectivity, then that bodes well for the outcome of your legal case. They can provide details without being emotionally invested in any sort of legal outcome. This looks great from the judge and jury's vantage points.
Sometimes, as an attorney, you need to bring in a forensic psychiatrist to act as an expert witness. So long as you properly screen these professionals and make sure they're a good fit for the particular case that's coming up, then you can find the right fit that makes a positive legal impact.
To learn more, contact a forensic psychiatrist.