Forensic reports get excluded under Florida evidence standards for predictable reasons: the methodology section reads like a clinical chart note, the foundation doesn’t satisfy Florida Statute § 90.702, or the collateral interview documentation is too thin to survive cross. The underlying science is rarely the issue. We’ve written evaluations for the 15th Judicial Circuit since 2008, and every report we produce is built around one question: will it hold up at the witness stand?
If you’re an attorney filing in Palm Beach County, you need an evaluator who treats your case schedule, your retainer agreement, and your opposing expert’s likely line of attack as part of the work product. That’s what this page covers.
What 15th Circuit Experience Actually Changes
Working forensic cases in Palm Beach County isn’t the same as working them in Miami-Dade or Hillsborough. The standing orders vary, the dependency calendar moves at its own pace, and local judges have known preferences about how custody evaluations should structure their recommendations under § 61.13. Out-of-county evaluators sometimes miss this, and the report comes back for revision two weeks before trial.
What Attorneys Actually Get From Working With Us
Most of what litigators need from a forensic psychologist comes down to four practical concerns. Here’s how we handle each one.
Turnaround you can schedule against. Standard evaluations are delivered within 30 days of the final assessment session. Rush work under 14 days is available subject to case complexity and current schedule, but it requires advance scheduling at intake. We don’t accept rush deadlines we can’t actually meet. If we commit to day 14, you have the report on day 14.
Flat-fee retainer paid at engagement. Every evaluation type carries a flat retainer paid in full before clinical contact begins. The retainer covers records review, clinical interviews, testing, scoring, report writing, and one round of attorney consultation. Deposition and trial testimony are billed separately at an hourly rate with a half-day minimum. You’ll receive a written engagement letter specifying scope, deliverables, and the evaluators assigned before any work starts.
Protected calendar time for deposition and trial. Dr. Cathy Colet maintains blocked time for deposition and testimony in active forensic matters. We ask for 21 days’ notice for scheduled testimony when possible and avoid double-booking trial weeks. If your case is set for trial in the 15th Circuit, we’ll block the dates at engagement, not at the calendar call.
Reports formatted to Florida evidentiary standards. Every report we issue is structured to meet the foundation requirements of § 90.702, with explicit sections addressing method reliability, the qualifications underlying each opinion, and the chain from data collected to conclusions reached. Test selection follows current professional consensus instruments (MMPI-3, PAI, M-FAST, SIRS-2, and assessments appropriate to the referral question) with rationale documented in the methodology section. Where a Daubert challenge is likely, the report anticipates it in the methodology rather than leaving the response for cross.
Case Types We Take
Forensic evaluations answer narrowly defined legal questions, not general “is this person mentally healthy” questions. The right evaluation depends on what the court actually needs to decide.
Criminal
Competency to stand trial, criminal responsibility and mental state at offense (MSO), Miranda waiver capacity, capital sentencing mitigation, violence risk assessment, psychosexual evaluation for sex offense matters.
Civil and personal injury
Psychological injury and emotional damages following accidents, assaults, or workplace incidents, including pre-injury baseline reconstruction. We screen for malingering using validated measures rather than impressionistic clinical judgment, because civil defense counsel will ask about it.
Family law
Time-sharing and parenting plan evaluations, parental fitness, reunification assessments, and best-interest analyses structured around the § 61.13 statutory factors. These are the matters most likely to face aggressive cross-examination, and we write them with that in mind.
Capacity and guardianship
Testamentary capacity, capacity to execute a power of attorney, contractual capacity, and evaluations supporting petitions under chapter 744.
Immigration
Extreme hardship for waiver applications, asylum-based psychological harm, U-visa, T-visa, and VAWA evaluations.
When a referral question requires cognitive analysis alongside the forensic interview, we conduct a full neuropsychological battery as part of the same engagement.
How To Engage Us
Initial calls with retaining counsel are free and confidential. We’ll discuss the referral question, identify the appropriate evaluation type, walk through the records you’ll need to produce, and quote the retainer on the call. If we’re not the right fit (conflicts, scope, or scheduling), we’ll tell you and refer you elsewhere when we can.
For matters with venue in the county courthouse downtown, our West Palm Beach forensic psychology practice is the team you’ll be working with directly. For cases set across the county line, we also accept retainers from firms litigating in Broward County courts.
A Word On What We Don’t Sell
We won’t promise the conclusion you want. A retained forensic psychologist who shapes findings to the retaining party’s case theory is an expert who gets impeached, and an impeached expert hurts your case more than no expert at all. What you’ll get from us is what the data shows, written in a structure the 15th Circuit recognizes, defensible on cross, and delivered on the date we committed to. That’s the only product we sell.