Interviewing, Report Writing, and Testifying in Child Custody Cases

20 hours | 20 CEs

This on-demand professional training program on Interviewing, Report Writing, and Testifying in Child Custody Cases is presented by David A. Martindale, PhD, ABPP. This badge-earning program can be shared digitally on platforms like LinkedIn or your resume and counts towards a certificate. Enroll in this program to earn credit towards Child Custody Evaluation Certificate and share your new digital credentials with prospective employers and colleagues.

The differences in interviewing techniques, styles, and questions in clinical versus forensic settings are highlighted. Interviewing elements are discussed, as are additional elements such as scheduling matters, cognitive and attitudinal biases, and interviewing styles. There are many components involved in interviewing adults and children.

This program describes how to interview litigants, non-party sources, and collateral sources and also describes how to interview (a) credentialed professionals, (b) individuals presumed not to be aligned, and (c) individuals presumed to be aligned. General issues regarding the usefulness and weight of collateral sources are also discussed.

Elements of Interviewing children are discussed, including Assessing cognitive capacity and maturity; the use of interview facilitation mechanisms; the issue of possible coaching of children; addressing source misattribution; and interviewing the allegedly alienated child(ren). Potential problems with interviewing, including refusals to respond, invocations of the Fifth Amendment, and requests for assistance or emotional support, are also discussed.

Participants learn about organization issues, formulating opinions, preparing drafts, and general issues in relation to Report Writing. Organizational issues include data integration, dealing with discrepant, incomplete, unreliable, or missing data, and conceptualizing the intended audience.

This program uses case studies and case law examples to guide participants through how to formulate their opinions in a report. Participants learn how to decide what format to use when drafting the final report, whether it should be reviewed, and who is entitled to review it. The report delivery and distribution are also briefly overviewed. General issues regarding reports are also discussed, including Descriptive reports v. Prescriptive reports; Dispassionate reports v. Persuasive reports; Data, opinions, and recommendations; and articulating limitations.

Finally, the program addresses the issue of offering expert testimony. General issues in establishing the contract, financial responsibility, payment arrangements, discovery, and defining experts are described. Participants also learn about preparing for trial, including file organization, homework, and updating their CVs, along with learning opportunities from judicial decisions and trial transcripts. The elements of effective and ineffective testimony by court-appointed evaluators and elements of effective testimony on direct, use of jargon, complex explanations, and more are discussed. Skills needed to respond effectively to aggressive cross-examination; testimony by retained work product reviewers; case-blind didactic testimony; and testimony by treating practitioners are also topics that are covered.