The Expert Expert Witness More Maxims and

Psychologists, psychiatrists, and other mental health professionals may be experts in their respective fields, but this expertise does not easily translate to effective courtroom testimony. Even veteran expert witnesses can encounter new challenges in these high-pressure situations, especially during a cross-examination where every statement and gesture can be scrutinized by an attorney searching for ways to dispute the expert’s credibility and opinions.

For more than two decades, Stanley L. Brodsky has taught expert witnesses simple and practical strategies they can use to negotiate challenges in the courtroom and give strong, effective testimony. In this thorough update to his classic guide, Brodsky and his equally prolific coauthor, Thomas G. Gutheil, continue to provide sage, humorous advice that will put expert witnesses at ease and allow them to comport themselves with poise and confidence throughout direct and cross-examination. Short chapters punctuated by memorable maxims draw from the authors’ expansive personal experiences, as well as research and stories from other expert expert witnesses, to create this must-have resource that will inform and entertain expert witnesses for many years.

Stanley L. Brodsky, PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at The University of Alabama. He has written 14 books and about 250 articles, mostly in psychology applied to the law. He has received distinguished achievement awards from the American Psychology-Law Society, The International Association of Forensic and Correctional Psychology, and other scholarly and professional societies. He is a frequent leader of workshops based on his book Testifying in Court. In 2013 he was a Visiting Fellow in the Program in Psychiatry and the Law of Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brodsky has been a visiting fellow at universities in New Zealand, India, Israel, and England.

Thomas G. Gutheil, MD, is a professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center and cofounder of the Program in Psychiatry and the Law at Harvard Medical School; he is the first professor of psychiatry in the history of Harvard Medical School to be certified in both general and forensic psychiatry. A recipient of every major award in the forensic field and multiple teaching and writing awards, Dr. Gutheil has authored or coauthored more than 300 publications in the national and international forensic literature. He is past president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law and the International Academy of Law and Mental Health. Associated with the Massachusetts Mental Health Center for a half-century. Dr. Gutheil lives and works in the Boston area.

Preface

Introduction

Apologies
Arbitrary Pigeonholes
Asked and Answered
Boundaries Between Expert Witness Roles and Trial Consultation
Confabulations
Consistent Experts
Context
Directed Feedback
Discovery and Discoveries
Ethics in Expert Testimony
Evasive Responses: Hopeless But Not Serious
Experience Does Not Count
Expert Witness as Master Teacher
Fact Witnesses
Frames of Reference
Gender-Intrusive Questions
Gotcha and Goodbye
Holy Mackerel, Man!
Illusory Documentation
Integrity Checks
Language: It's a Virus
Lawyer Bashing and Lawyer Jokes
Le Mot Juste
Lost and Befuddled
Low Pitches
Metatestimony
Offensive Language
Offensive Questions
Personal Attacks: Overview
Personal Attacks: Demeaning Attorneys
Personal Attacks: Internet Vulnerabilities
Personal Attacks: Taints
Pulling and the Push–Pull
Real and Apparent Ambiguities
Recording of Assessments
Sayonara Solutions
Silent Treatments
Sleight of Hand
Social Construction of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Dangerousness
Spontaneity and Alertness on the Stand
Swoop and Perch
Telephoned and Videorecorded Testimony
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Their Words in Our Mouths
Tightrope Walking
To Faint, To Weep, To Blank Out
Traps of Common Sense
True Grit and False
Ultimate Opinion Testimony
Well Beyond Testimony
What We Like to See in an Expert Witness — And What We Don't

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The Expert Expert Witness More Maxims and Guidelines for Testifying in Court

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials