The Independent Lawyer Consultation: A Practicum of Ethics for the Forensic Mental Health Expert

The opportunity to obtain an independent legal consultation on a case protects the forensic mental health expert against being manipulated by the retaining lawyer. Such manipulation—also articulated as attorney seduction/intimidation—presents a serious threat to the integrity of the forensic process. A case study is presented to show how the independent legal consultation can save the forensic expert from being misled. The case comes from a workplace in which the availability of a legal consultant is built in. Some speculations are offered regarding the extension of this concept to settings not so endowed.