Consultation Services

Our forensic psychiatry division provides both criminal and civil assessments, offering psychiatric consultation on a broad range of legal affairs.

Fellows, residents and medical students undertaking forensic psychiatry training learn from researchers and clinicians who are dedicated to helping educate the court about mental health-related aspects of cases. 

To help facilitate adjudication, our faculty members:

  • provide expert reviews of case materials
  • analyze other experts’ reports to determine whether their conclusions are supported

Our trainees may receive a primer on the reports we write about criminal responsibility, competency to stand trial, criminal profiles and exaggerated or feigned symptoms. 

Members of our faculty have guided attorneys and their clients in a variety of matters. We provide in-court consultations and testimony and perform clinical examinations of perpetrators, victims or plaintiffs. We introduce our trainees to these processes.

In some cases, our faculty act as expert witnesses; our trainees may have opportunities to observe faculty members testifying regarding competency, sentencing recommendations, treatment recommendations and assessment of future risk.

Criminal and Civil Assessments

Our division conducts a variety of criminal and civil assessments. We help our trainees better understand areas including:

Criminal Assessment

  • competence to stand trial
  • competence to waive Miranda rights
  • mental state at time of offense and insanity defense (not guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect)
  • dangerousness and violence risk assessment
  • treatment amenability
  • juvenile justice and malingering

Civil Assessment

  • psychological injury and emotional distress
  • post-traumatic stress disorder
  • competence to refuse treatment
  • competence to manage finances
  • testamentary capacity
  • disability evaluations
  • workers’ compensation claims
  • guardianship hearings
  • fitness for duty evaluations
  • malpractice
  • peer review
  • independent medical evaluations

Evaluations and Fees

For more information about the types of evaluations we provide and our fees, contact our program at (716) 898-4857.