An opinion without its reasoning is an assertion with a signature on it.
Basis, method and limits stated in the report rather than reconstructed on the stand.
Scoped to the question actually referred, and declined where an evaluation cannot answer it.
Assessment addressed to the referral question, with the basis for each conclusion stated.
Standardized testing, scored and interpreted, presented with what each measure was chosen to answer.
Consultation to a GAL where a clinical question sits inside a legal one.
Available where the case requires it, on the report as written.
Addressed directly in forensic work, where the incentive to present well is at its highest.
Where the question asked is outside what an evaluation can establish, that is said in writing.
Where a parenting dispute turns on a clinical question rather than a factual one.
Consultation and, where appropriate, independent assessment.
Where a prior report has not survived scrutiny.
Some questions cannot be answered by an evaluation. That is worth establishing before one is commissioned.
