Dr. Mark Levy, a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and ADA expert writes:
Assessing the Truth: How Forensic Psychiatrists and Psychologists Evaluate Litigants
Forensic psychiatrists and psychologists are mental health professional who have undergone addition training and have obtained advanced credentials in forensic psychiatry and psychology from their respective professional certifying boards. Their practice, like the practice of law, is divided into broad criminal and civil areas. In the criminal arena, forensic psychiatric and psychological experts are usually asked to opine about questions of capacity and sometimes, during sentencing, on mitigation. In the civil arena, forensic practice is more broad, covering, like your Bar Association does, many individual sections of legal practice, from probate to personal injury to family to employment law.
Invariably, in civil litigation, forensic psychiatrists and psychologists are asked to offer opinions on causation and damages. We recognize that the truthfulness of plaintiffs and witnesses is an ultimate question to be decided by the fact finder. Nevertheless, a forensic psychiatrist and psychologist can be helpful in educating the fact finder about issues that bear directly upon questions of truthfulness.