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Overview
Essential Insights Into Mental Health Disorders, Records, and Experts
Most lawyers will encounter various mental health disorders while working with clients and others. To serve your clients' needs effectively and navigate these situations with tact, you need to know how to recognize and deal with them. This mini psychology guide will show you how to recognize the signs and symptoms of various mental health issues, from mood disorders to addiction. You will also receive practical insights for working with mental health experts and records in litigation. Enhance your understanding of mental health issues in the legal profession - register today!
- Review effective ways to communicate with individuals who have depression or bipolar disorder.
- Learn to identify the signs of narcissism and other personality disorders.
- Build your knowledge of different mental health expert credentials and terminology.
- Determine when and how to refer a client for evaluation and treatment.
- Review real-world techniques for deposing and cross-examining mental health experts.
This program was designed in conjunction with NBI's esteemed 2023-2024 Content Advisory Committee Member Erika MacCormac.
Abbreviated Agenda
- Depression and Bipolar Disorder
- Anxiety Disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Understanding Addiction
- Narcissism, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Other Personality Disorders
- Malingering or Faking Mental Illness
- Working With Mental Health Experts and Records
- Deposing and Cross-Examining Mental Health Experts
- Legal Ethics: Ensuring the Well-Being of Yourself
Credit Details
Credits Available
| Credit | Status | Total | Until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Alabama CLE |
|
6 Total | 12-31-2025 |
| Arizona CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| California CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Colorado CLE |
|
7 Total | 12-31-2026 |
| Connecticut CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Delaware CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Florida CLE |
|
7 Total | 12-31-2025 |
| Georgia CLE |
|
6 Total | 12-31-2025 |
| Hawaii CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Idaho CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Illinois CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-11-2026 |
| Maine CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-11-2026 |
| Minnesota CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Missouri CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Northern Mariana Islands CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Montana CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| North Carolina CLE |
|
6 Total | 02-28-2026 |
| North Dakota CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| Nebraska CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| New Hampshire CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| New Mexico CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Nevada CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| New York CLE |
|
7 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| Ohio CLE |
|
6 Total | 12-31-2025 |
| Oklahoma CLE |
|
7 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Oregon CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2027 |
| Pennsylvania CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Vermont CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-12-2026 |
| Washington CLE |
|
6 Total | 06-11-2029 |
| Wisconsin CLE |
|
7 Total | 12-31-2025 |
| West Virginia CLE |
|
7.2 Total | 06-12-2026 |
Select Jurisdiction
CLE
Agenda
-
Depression and Bipolar Disorder
- What They Are and What They Aren't
- Recognizing Signs and Symptoms
- Communication Techniques With Clients
- Best Representation of a Client With Diagnosis
-
Anxiety Disorders and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- What They Are and What They Aren't
- Recognizing Signs and Symptoms
- Communication Techniques With Clients
- Best Representation of a Client With Diagnosis
-
Understanding Addiction
- What it is and What it Isn't
- Recognizing Signs and Symptoms
- Communication Techniques With Clients
- Best Representation of a Client With Diagnosis
-
Narcissism, Borderline Personality Disorder, and Other Personality Disorders
- What They Are and What They Aren't
- Recognizing Signs and Symptoms
- Communication Techniques With Clients
- Best Representation of a Client With Diagnosis
-
Malingering or Faking Mental Illness
-
Working With Mental Health Experts and Records
- Mental Health Expert Credentials and Key Terminology Explained
- When and How to Refer Clients for Evaluation and Treatment
- Working With Mental Health Experts
- Obtaining and Reading Mental Health Records and Reports
- How to Determine the Best Evaluation Needed for Your Case
-
Deposing and Cross-Examining Mental Health Experts
- Investigation Pointers
- Probing Expert Methodologies, Biases, and Opinions
- Questions to Always and Never Ask
- Challenging Expert Testimony
-
Legal Ethics: Ensuring the Well-Being of Yourself
- Avoiding Stigma and Bias and Promoting Empathy
- Stress and Emotional Intelligence in the Legal Profession
- Managing Stress, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue
Who Should Attend
This program is designed for attorneys in all areas of legal practice. HR professionals, police officers, and paralegals may also benefit.
Speakers
Speaker bio
Brian S. Quinn
is a licensed attorney in Pennsylvania, who currently serves as the education and outreach coordinator for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc., a lawyers assistance program established in 1988 for the purpose of helping lawyers, judges and law students recover from alcoholism, drug addiction and mental health disorders. He obtained his undergraduate degree, his J.D. degree and a certificate in drug and alcohol counseling from Villanova University. In addition to working for Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, Inc., Mr. Quinn has been engaged in private practice for nearly 50 years. He has also worked in the field of alcohol and drug counselling in suburban Philadelphia. Mr. Quinn is a past member of the Board of Directors of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers of Pennsylvania, and served as a peer volunteer for over six years prior to accepting his current role as the organization's Educator. Mr. Quinn has written articles and conducted CLE presentations for bar associations, private law firms and professional organizations in Pennsylvania, as well as for National CLE providers on a variety of topics in the fields of lawyer wellness and impairment in the legal profession.
Speaker bio
Dr. Jerome H. Poliacoff
maintains a private practice in Coral Gables and Boca Raton, Florida, where his time is spent providing both clinical and forensic services. Dr. Poliacoff is a child, adolescent and adult psychologist licensed in the state of Florida since 1984. His training included pre- and post-doctoral internships and training at the Children's Psychiatric Centers in Miami, Florida. Dr. Poliacoff has been a staff consultant to the Northwest Dade Community Mental Health Center, where he conducted the pre-doctoral internship training in child assessment; and on the staff of Charter Hospital of Miami, where he served as co-director of an adult inpatient unit. He is a frequent consulting and testifying expert in both family and dependency courts in Florida's Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Judicial circuits; an expert in cases involving discrimination and harassment claims in federal employment law cases; an expert in the assessment and defense of tort claims for emotional damages in cases involving children, adolescents and adults; and he serves as a Level III third party review expert of pediatric patient insurance appeals for National Medical Review of Pennsylvania. Dr. Poliacoff earned his undergraduate degree from the City University of New York, and his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Miami, Coral Gables.
Speaker bio
Bonnie Miller Ladds
is a licensed clinical social worker and certified divorce coach with over 35 years experience. She is the founder of Focus Forward Divorce Coaching & Therapy, LLC. She brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to conducting comprehensive mental health evaluations following traumatic events and accidents. Throughout her career, Bonnie has specialized in working with individuals grappling with a myriad of mental health challenges, including PTSD, depression, anxiety, relationships, divorce, and sex addiction. She adds in-depth understanding of the nuanced intricacies of these conditions as a seasoned professional capable of providing thorough assessments that significantly enhance the value of legal cases. She earned her MSW from Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Post Master's certificate in Clinical Social Work from New York University, Trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) from Columbia University, and completed a trauma training program with the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis.
Speaker bio
Dr. Michael P. Brannon
is co-director of the Institute for Behavioral Sciences and the Law (I.B.S.L.). He is a Florida licensed psychologist since 1990 with a specialization in forensic psychology. Dr. Brannon has handled thousands of cases in a forensic capacity and has testified as an expert over 1500 times in federal and state court criminal and civil divisions throughout Florida. He is regularly appointed as an expert by the judiciary and is often called upon as an expert witness or forensic consultant for defense attorneys and prosecutors. Dr. Brannon's areas of expertise include sex offender risk assessments, second opinion case reviews, child witness interview analysis, substance abuse assessments, violence risk assessments, malingering evaluations, competency to proceed, insanity assessments, competency to waive Miranda rights, and death penalty sentencing evaluations. He has been qualified as an expert in all of these types of cases. Dr. Brannon also has taught and supervised doctoral students at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. He frequently speaks as a guest lecturer in various law and pre-law classes in South Florida on a variety of topics related to forensic psychology. Dr. Brannon was a clinical supervisor for students at Brown Schools, a program for adolescent sexual abusers. He also has presented seminars nationally to attorneys on a variety of topics including sex offender evaluations, juvenile evaluations, child witness interviewing, competency to proceed evaluations, substance abuse evaluations, sanity evaluations, and malingering in personal injury evaluations. In addition, Dr. Brannon has been invited as a speaker on numerous occasions at Florida judicial conferences. He has frequently been seen in the media discussing various topical forensic issues and legal cases including appearances on Hardball with Chris Matthews, The O'Reilly Factor, Forensic Files, The Today Show, Headline News Network, In Session, Snapped, and Erin Burnett Out Front. Dr. Brannon holds a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, a Master of Science degree in clinical psychology, and a Doctorate in psychology from Nova Southeastern University. He completed his doctoral internship at Northwest Dade Community Mental Health Center in Dade County working with children, adolescents, and their families. Dr. Brannon completed his residency in a private forensic practice focusing on adult criminal offenders. He is a member of Division 41 of the American Psychological Association, Division of Psychology and the Law. Dr. Brannon also is a long-time member of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (APSAC).
Speaker bio
Dr. Daniel Bober
, D.O., is board-certified in general psychiatry, child and adolescent psychiatry, and forensic psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He is also a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, meaning he is a certified addiction medicine physician. Dr. Bober's formal pursuit of psychiatry began in 1990. In 1994, he graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. He then attended Michigan State University to become a licensed doctor of osteopathic medicine. Following the completion of his general psychiatry residency at Yale New Haven Hospital, Dr. Bober completed two fellowships. First, he completed a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Yale Child Study Center, which focuses on the development of exceptional practices in the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children, a core function of Dr. Bober's current practice. He also completed a forensic psychiatry fellowship at University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Bober's prestigious education has allowed him to undergo training and study with national leaders in the field of psychiatry.
Speaker bio
John F. Schutz
is a partner at the Law Office of John F. Schutz, P.L. He is board-certified in marital and family law by The Florida Bar and nationally board-certified as a family trial advocate through the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA). As a fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), Mr. Schutz is committed to elevating the standards and improving family law practice. He lectures at continuing legal education seminars sponsored by The Florida Bar. In his past role as a long-standing member of the Family Law Section Continuing Legal Education Committee, Mr. Schutz has produced many seminars on family law issues. He was the past chair of The Florida Bar Grievance Committee (15D), investigating allegations of misconduct by other lawyers. Mr. Schutz continues to devote a portion of his practice to representing less fortunate clients referred to him by the local Legal Aid Society and the National Center for Exploited and Missing Children. He earned his B.S. degree from Florida State University and his J.D. degree from Stetson University School of Law. Mr. Schutz is a member of The Florida Bar (Family Law Section), Palm Beach County Bar Association and Family Law Inns of Court - Master. He is admitted to practice in Florida.
Speaker bio
Dr. Damarys Sanchez
, MFS, Psy.D., is a bilingual licensed psychologist in Florida and has a private practice in Miami, Florida. She obtained a master's in forensic science and a doctorate in psychology from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. After becoming licensed, Dr. Sanchez worked at a forensic mental health hospital as the treating psychologist for patients found incompetent to proceed or adjudicated not guilty because of insanity. In 2010, she started her private practice, where she consults and conducts forensic evaluations on cases involving competency, assessment of developmental disabilities, sanity, Miller re-sentencing, competency to waive Miranda Rights, need for involuntary hospitalization, and risk for violence. Additionally, Dr. Sanchez conducts psychological and neuropsychological evaluations for civil cases. She has testified as an expert witness in state and federal courts in criminal and civil matters. Dr. Sanchez is also an independent contractor for the Social Security Administration, conducting a review of disability applications based on psychiatric disorders. She currently serves as the board vice president for Passageway Residences of Dade County, and was immediate past president of the board.
Speaker bio
Dr. Zach Poliacoff
is a psychiatry resident at University of Southern Florida Health. Dr. Poliacoff earned his B.S. from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and his M.D. from University of South Florida.
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