THE CHANGING ROLE OF CONSULTANTS IN FAMILY LAW

Even if sole custody is wanted and warranted, a psychological consultant can assist the attorney regarding the strengths and weaknesses of his or her own client and thus of the case. There is an interesting division of opinion on using consultants to "pretest" one's client for suitability for sole custody. One school of thought says that one's own consultant should administer the battery of psychological tests standard in the jurisdiction prior to allowing a client to undergo court-ordered procedures. Attorneys who so advise their clients opine that all they are doing is determining the suitability of their client for parenting, and that such "pretesting" is right and proper. Others frown on this practice, believing that "schooling" one's client on the psychological tests to come borders on witness tampering and undermines the system and objective custodial evaluations. An entire body of case law developed around the proper selection and use of a consultant. Presumably as one's practice increases, so does one's list of trusted "go to" consultants on relevant issues. Often an expert one has opposed, deposed, and cross-examined becomes a valuable resource in other cases, because you have seen him or her perform under fire. If possible, it is wise to involve the client in the consultant/expert selection process, particularly if the client has real savvy in the field. Additionally, if the client trusts the consultant, he or she will more likely trust the consultant's input, even when it is not entirely favorable. Dr. Mark Mosk, a forensic consulting psychologist, verbalizes what many know in cases that involve a close call between two "good enough" parents. He says that "a win-lose mindset in family courts, by its very nature, improperly and perhaps dangerously removes the child's psychological welfare from being the focus of attention and concern." Dr. Phyllis Amabile, a psychiatrist, and Dr. Leslie Star, a clinical psychologist, each of whom do extensive work in the field of custody evaluations, both urge attorneys first to utilize their family evaluations as an outline for settlement conferences in divorce, rather than as the opening salvo in divorce wars. The creative use of consultants has the potential to fàsttrack the goal of the elusive amicable divorce, without sacrificing the child-centered focus and economic needs of either party. At any point along the way, for example, a divorcing couple can choose to do lawyer-assisted mediation, viewing the medi