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How to Challenge the Forensic Psychiatrist's Report
Envision the following scenario, which is not necessarily commonplace, but not unheard of, either: Your client, the mother of a 9-year-old girl and two boys, aged 2 and 5, has been married for 14 years, most of them unhappy. Your client has been struggling with, and is being treated for, a series of psychological problems, including bipolar disorder, suicidal ideation and post-partum trauma disorder. The client has been a stay-at-home mother, attending to the demands of three children with busy schedules. Her marital problems have increased dramatically since the birth of the youngest child, to the point where she now believes the domestic discord is detrimental to her own as well as to her children's emotional well-being.
Your client and her husband have fundamentally different philosophies on child rearing and have had a series of disputes on such crucial issues as psychiatric treatment and the correct medication for their daughter. This history forms the basis of your client's belief that joint decision-making with her husband is not viable and that sole legal custody is the only option. Furthermore, your client, while not wishing to cut the father out of the children's lives, is willing to offer him 'garden-variety' visitation of alternating weekends and one mid-week dinner, but she firmly believes the children should reside primarily with her in her home, particularly during the school week. Noting that the issues of custody and visitation are marked 'unresolved,' at the preliminary conference, the judge appoints both a law guardian to act as the children's advocate, and a forensic psychiatrist to meet and evaluate the family and make a recommendation regarding legal and physical custody.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
How AI Has Affected PR
When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.