REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Instructor:
Office:
Phone:
Email:
Credits: 3
Online Class hours:
Online Office hours:
Text and materials:
Bronstein, D. (2002). Demystifying the law: an introduction for professionals. (2nd Ed.).
Boca Raton, FL: Lewis/CRC Press. ISBN 0-87371-324-9
Bronstein, D. (1999). Law for the expert witness. (2nd Ed.). Boca Raton, FL:
Lewis/CRC Press. ISBN: 0-87371-906-9.
Havranek, J., Blackwell, T., Dillman, E., Field, T., Grimes, & Weed, R. (1997). Forensic
rehabilitation: a resource for vocational experts. Athens, GA: Elliott & Fitzpatrick.
ISBN: 0-945029-57-2.
Supplemental materials:
Babitsky, S., Mangraviti, J. and Babitsky, A. (2006). The A-Z guide to expert witnessing.
Falmouth, MA: SEAK Inc. ISBN: 1-892904-29-2.
Barsky, A., & Gould, J. (2004). Clinicians in court: a guide to subpoenas, depositions,
testifying, and everything else you need to know. The Guilford Press. ISBN: 1593850-16-6
Barton, E., Bernstein, T., & Hartsell, T. (2005). The portable guide to testifying in
court for the mental health professionals. New York: Wiley. ISBN: 0-471465-52-2.
Bohr, S., & Harrington, C. (2006 update). Bohr’s social security issues annotated. (2
vols.) Santa Ana, CA: James Publishing, Inc. ISBN:
Bohr, S. (2006 Update). Social security advocates handbook. Santa Ana, CA: James
Publishing, Inc. ISBN:
Buckles, T. (2001). Laws of evidence. The West Legal Studies Series). St. Paul, MN:
Thomson Delmar Learning. ISBN:
Bush, T. (2006 Update). Social security disability practice. Santa Ana, CA: James
Publishing, Inc. ISBN:
Field, T., & Johnson, C. (2006). The daubert challenge: from case referral
to trial. Athens, GA: Elliott & Fitzpatrick. ISBN: 0-945019-99-8.
REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Syllabus (Proposed)
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Field, T., Johnson, C., Neulicht, A., & Blackwell, T. (2005). The vocational expert:
revised and updated. Athens, GA: Elliott & Fitzpatrick. ISBN: 0-945019-97-1.
Field, T., Johnson, C., Schmidt, R., & Van de Bittner, E. (2006). Methods and protocols:
meeting the criteria of general acceptance and peer review under daubert and kumho.
Athens, GA: Elliott & Fitzpatrick. ISBN: 0-945019-98-x.
Klawans, H. (1991). Trials of an expert witness: tales of clinical neurology and the law.
(1st Ed.). NY: Little Brown & Co. ISBN: 0-0-316496-83-4.
Newman, L., & Klieman, R. (2006). Take the witness: the experts speak on crossexamination. JurisNet, LLC.
Tsushima, W., & Anderson, R. (1996). Mastering expert testimony: a courtroom
handbook for mental health professionals. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associations. ISBN: 0-585225-20-6. (electronic book)
State and Federal Statutes that apply to specific cases cited or general areas of
litigation in which forensic rehabilitation experts practice
State and Federal Rules of Evidence (representative states in which students are
located or within which they practice)
State and Federal Rulings on Hearsay
Course Description:
Overview of law and court procedures for rehabilitation professionals:
qualification of forensic experts; roles and functions of testifying fact or expert witness or
a non-testifying consultant; ethical practices; state and federal venues; forensic experts
qualifications; admissibility of evidence and opinion (Daubert v. Merrill-Dow, Frye rule;
Kumho Tire); procedures and rules of the court; discovery & work product; hearsay;
personal injury, product liability, worker’s compensation, employment law,
discrimination, medical & professional malpractice, Social Security Disability (SSI &
SSDI), divorce, wrongful death, and consortium claims; direct and cross-examination.
Student Learning Outcomes:
1. Demonstrate knowledge of the various areas of litigation in which a
rehabilitation professional’s expertise may be utilized to assist the courts in
determining the impact of disability upon an individual and/or their surviving
family members.
REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Syllabus (Proposed)
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2. Demonstrate an understanding of the differences between litigation that falls
within state or federal venues.
3. Demonstrate understanding of court procedures, rules governing the court,
roles of the various parties involved within a deposition or court trial, specific
terminology relating to challenges or procedures of the court, standards
applicable to the rehabilitation practitioner as a fact witness, testifying expert
witness, or a consultant to attorney(s) and/or the court.
4. Demonstrate knowledge of court procedures, including the implications of
various legal precedents that impact on the qualifying of the rehabilitation
professional as an expert in their discipline, admissibility of evidence and
expert opinion, and related areas of issue or concern for the courts in utilizing
expert witnesses in general.
5. Demonstrate knowledge of and ability to search and secure appropriate
reference materials located within specialized databases for the specific type
of litigation, court venue, and needs of differing case characteristics.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of the strengths and limitations of various
methodologies (i.e., transferable skills analysis, job placement, etc.),
databases and references typically utilized by rehabilitation experts and
consultants, such as the D.O.T., O*NET, labor market statistics, salary and
wage surveys, labor market forecasts, and how they relate to current
requirements for admission of opinion and how they can be attacked by
opposing counsel, etc,
Course Requirements and Grading Method:
A. Requirements:
The student will demonstrate the knowledge, critical thinking, and requisite
skills pertaining to this course by:
1. Completion of objective written examinations covering all content included in
the course. (40% of final grade)
2. Completion of threaded discussions that address critical concepts and
procedures resulting from various laws and precedents, and existing within the
diverse areas of litigation within which forensic rehabilitation consultants
provide their expertise. (20%)
3. Demonstrating within a written paper and/or oral presentation, the
critical concepts, precedents, procedures, and precedents governing the court
REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Syllabus (Proposed)
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and impacting on the admissibility of the forensic rehabilitation expert or
consultants opinions. Topics of the assignment will include addressing of
strengths and limitations of standard rehabilitation methodologies, procedures,
assessment, service determination, job placement, assistive technology and
accommodations, etc., within court procedures and justifying their use under
the Daubert and other rules. (20%)
4. Demonstrate the appropriate use of specific databases and other references that
would address the roles and functions that rehabilitation consultants would fill
within diverse areas of litigation where disabilities, discrimination, catastrophic
injury, and/or wrongful death has occurred, according to the characteristics and
needs of individual cases. (20%)
B: Grading Method:
A
B
C
D
F
=
=
=
=
=
90.0% and above.
80.0% to 89.9%
70.0% to 79.9%
60.0% to 69.9%
59.9% or below
Course Format:
Regularly scheduled real-time (synchronous) online class meetings will make use
of Adobe Breeze, Adobe Connect, or comparable web-conferencing tool. These sessions
will follow an online lecture format followed by discussion of core concepts, issues, and
concerns that are raised. Lecture outlines, links to outside articles, and other information
will be placed on D2L for each module of the course. Readings within each
module/session of the course will include those from the required course text and
supplemental documents.
For those activities in which delayed responses (asynchronus) to topics and
questions posed by the instructor or another class participant would be conducted through
the Discussion tool within the Desire2Learn (D2L) course management platform.
Available technologies will be utilized for group or individual communications between
student(s) and the instructor. Faculty member will attempt to respond to student contacts
as soon as possible and within 24-hours, unless special circumstances prevent this.
Maximum participation of all students is essential, and all class members are
expected to complete readings, analyze and synthesize ideas and materials presented or
which grow out of the student's or class member's discernment, by contributing to
discussions in a timely, meaningful and respectful manner.
Written assignments will be submitted, reviewed, and graded through the Drop
Box feature of the D2L case management platform. Grading rubric(s) will serve as a tool
REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Syllabus (Proposed)
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to provide student's with a guide to the expectations of the instructor for each of the
individual or group assignments identified, and subsequently as a tool for the instructor to
give prompt, useful, and targeted feedback to each student.
Examinations will take place online through D2L; and will include varying types
of items as appropriate to the content covered by each exam. Exams and written
assignments will require students to actively exhibit their writing and critical thinking
skills, their knowledge and understanding of vocational rehabilitation and related
specializations, expert consultation concepts and issues, and the discernment of ethical
challenges as they exist within various litigation-related situations
Course Content and Tentative Schedule:
Session/
Module
Content
1
Overview of Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
2
Fundamentals of a Lawsuit
3
The Discovery Process
4
Anatomy of a Civil Trial
5
Evidence
6
Qualifications
7
Bulletproofing the Expert CV
8
Properly Forming & Expressing Opinions
9
Methodology
10
Bulletproofing and Expert’s Report
11
Connecting with the Jury
12
Preparing to Testify at Deposition & Trial
13
The Expert Deposition
REHB 672 Law and the Forensic Rehabilitation Consultant
Syllabus (Proposed)
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Direct Examination
15
Cross-Examination
16
What Clients Look for in an Expert
17
How Attorneys Locate Expert Witnesses
18
Marketing an Expert Witness Practice
19
Fees, Billings, & Collections
20
Expert Witness Liability & Risk Management
21
Privilege, Work Product, & Discovery
22
Communicating with Counsel
23
Ethics & the Expert
24
Handling Abuse
6