Forensic psychiatry is a medical subspecialty that includes research and clinical practice in the many areas in which psychiatry is applied to legal issues.

The role of the forensic psychiatrist is to serve as a consultant and provide expert opinion to the legal system or other third party by applying his/her psychiatric knowledge and clinical skills to a legal question.

The faculty in the Division of Forensic Psychiatry serve as consultants to courts, lawyers, corporations, insurance agencies and law enforcement.

It depends on a number of factors such as the type of case, the referral source, the specific legal questions and the needs of the referring agency. In general, a forensic psychiatric evaluation may involve a review of records and other collateral data, independent medical examination (IME), clinical interviews of other persons with relevant information, preparation of reports, and deposition or trial testimony.

Please refer to our Contact Us page for specific information.

There are no specific geographic restrictions. Although most of the evaluations performed by our faculty are at the local and state level, different faculty members have served as forensic psychiatry consultants nationally and cases outside of the state of Florida are considered on a case-by-case basis.