"Courtroom whores"?--or why do attorneys call us?: findings from a survey on attorneys' use of mental health experts

Mental health professionals who serve as expert witnesses are repeatedly characterized as (in the words of one recent author) "Whores of the Court." However, scholars have published little systematically gathered data about why attorneys seek mental health opinions and the criteria they use for selecting experts. We investigated these issues using a mailed survey of attorneys and judges. A slight majority of attorney respondents had requested mental health professionals' opinion in the previous year. The most important factors in selecting experts were their knowledge, ability to communicate, and local reputation; national reputation and scholarly writings were least important. Forty-nine percent of the responding attorneys said that receiving a favorable opinion was a "very important" or "essential" consideration, although this did not necessarily mean they wanted a dishonest opinion. Our findings suggest that most forensic work is performed by mental health professionals who are chosen because of their knowledge, communication skills, and local reputations.

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