Forensic psychiatry (the interface of psychiatry and the law), forensic psychology, and mental health law are growing and evolving subspecialties in their respective larger disciplines. Topics included in these fields include a range as diverse as capital sentencing guidelines, informed consent, and standards of care for mental health treatment. All of these topics need to be understood and mastered by clinicians, educators, administrators and attorneys working with psychiatric patients. This book brings together concise, comprehensive summaries of the most important "landmark" legal decisions relating to mental health practice in the United States. These decisions, along with their underlying reasonings, make up a critical portion of the national certification examination for forensic psychiatry offered by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). Many of the themes are also tested in the ABPN certification examination for general psychiatry. This book is the first to provide a combination of summaries of the relevant legal content paired with board-style test questions designed to help consolidate knowledge and prepare for certification. Cases with similar themes are grouped together with an eye toward helping the reader understand the evolution of legal and clinical thinking on a particular topic. This book represents an important addition to the study tools and textbooks available related to psychiatry and the law and will serve as a useful reference for clinicians who must follow established legal requirements in their field.

Author Biography

Dr. Elizabeth Ford is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine, is the Director of Bellevue Hospital's Forensic Psychiatry Division, and is the Training Director for the NYU Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. She has been involved in clinical practice, research and education, both locally and nationally, in the field of forensic psychiatry since 2005. Merrill Rotter is a forensic psychiatrist working at Albert Einstein College of Medicine where he is Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Law and Psychiatry for the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Rotter received his B.A./M.D. from the Boston University Six-Year Combined Liberal Arts Medical Education Program. Trained in clinical psychiatry at Columbia and in forensic psychiatry at Yale, Dr. Rotter leads a program of teaching, research and clinical service for Einstein as well as the New York State Office of Mental Health. In his OMH role, Dr. Rotter is Director of the Division of Forensic Services at Bronx Psychiatric Center and Senior Consultant to the Division of Forensic Services. In addition, Dr. Rotter is the Medical Director of the EAC and its NYC TASC Mental Health Programs which provide mental health diversion services in Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island and Rockland County. He is Project Director of SPECTRM, a research, training and treatment program aimed at helping to meet the needs individuals with mental illness who have a history of incarceration.