Several issues arise such as impartiality and the real need for such testimony is questioned. Reforms include limiting the scope of the testimony and referring to it as opinion testimony rather than expert testimony

Plaintiffs can seek damages by civil trial if they are a victim of a tort which caused them harm by some mean. These laws typically applied to physical injuries but can now refer to emotional injuries as well

Worker's compensation is a no-jury/trial process that streamlines the process for being evaluated for injuries resulting for the job. Mental health professionals will often evaluate the stressors that workers either faced on the job or as a result of their physical injury

Questions of civil competence arise when a person is in question regarding their mental capacity to things that they are involved in such as financial affairs

The future best interest of the child is the key decision being made by the evaluator in these cases. This can be one of the most stressful assessments for mental health evaluators and as a result there have been alternative methods employed for determining parental decisions after separations

People who are an immediate threat to themselves or others can be immediately sent to a mental health facility but they have a right to a hearing shortly thereafter to determine if they should be kept there

Advance medical directives are legal documents in which patients indicate the kinds of future medical treatments they will agree to should they later become incapacitated and therefore be incompetent to make treatment decisions for themselves at the time

Breached duty occurs when there is a violation, through either negligence or intentional wrongdoing, of a duty that one party legally owes to another party

Civil competence applies to civil contexts in which the question of mental competence is raised for a specific task

Compensatory damages is the payout or restitution owed to a plaintiff for the damages and harm that have been determined to be caused by a civil defendant

The future best interests of the child are the legal standards by which most child custody decisions are made in the US

Intentional behavior is the purposeful conduct in which a person meant the outcome of a given act to occur

Joint custody is a legal outcome in which divorcing parents share or divide various decision-making and control responsibilities for their children

Malingering is the intentional fabrication or exaggeration of physical or psychological symptoms in order to gain an advantage or incentive

Proximate cause is a cause that constitutes an obvious or substantial reason why a given harm occurred

Psychological autopsies are an attempt to determine the mode of death by an examination of what was known about the deceased

Punitive damages is financial compensation as a form of punishment for failure to respond to a misconduct

Risk assessments are assessments of the probability that a person will behave violently in certain circumstances often accompanied by suggestions for how to reduce the likelihood of violent conduct

Testimentary capacity is said to be having the capacity to execute a will when the will is signed and witnessed, including the capacity to resist the pressures or domination of any person who might try to use undue influence on the distribution of the estate of the person writing the will

Tort is a civil suit that does no involve a contract; thus, tort litigation woudl be illustrated by a suit by one automobile driver against another, most medical malpractice cases and other personal injury suits