Forensic Psychologist In Doral, FL
Doral cases are heard in Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit. We provide court-ready psychological evaluations and expert witness testimony for defense attorneys, prosecutors, family courts and civil litigators throughout Miami-Dade County.
Where A Doral Case Is Heard
Doral sits in Miami-Dade County, which Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit serves. It is the largest circuit in the state and the 4th largest trial court in the United States. 123 circuit and county judges. More than 2 million residents across 2,000 square miles. Roughly 800,000 cases a year. 80 circuit judges sit across 6 divisions, including Criminal, Family, Unified Family Court and Probate; 43 county judges cover the other 3.
Your evaluator does not have to sit in Miami-Dade. A Florida psychology license issued under chapter 490 is valid statewide, so a report written in Jupiter or Fort Lauderdale is admitted in the Eleventh Circuit on exactly the same terms as one written in Miami. What decides admission is section 90.702, Florida Statutes, applied case by case by the judge hearing it.
We do not keep an office in Doral. Of our 2 Florida offices, Fort Lauderdale on West Cypress Creek Road is the closer one and Jupiter is the other. Both are open Monday to Friday, 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
Forensic and Clinical Psychology Services
We are proud to offer a wide range of specialized forensic psychology services to meet the needs of the judicial and legal systems. Our team of experienced forensic psychologists provides personalized assessments, expert testimony, consultation, and training.
What Gets A Forensic Report Admitted In Florida
Section 90.702, Florida Statutes, sets 3 conditions. The testimony has to be based on sufficient facts or data. It has to be the product of reliable principles and methods. And the witness has to have applied those principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.
Florida has run on that standard since the Florida Supreme Court adopted the 2013 statutory amendment as a rule of court, effective May 23, 2019. Before that, Florida applied Frye. Reports written to the old standard do not survive the new one.
The third condition is where a report is most exposed. The instruments can be appropriate and the scoring can be correct, and the report still fails because it never shows the reasoning that connects the test data to the legal question the judge has to decide. That connection is the report.
In an adult criminal case, the court appoints no more than 3 experts to determine the defendant’s mental condition. Section 916.115(1), Florida Statutes, sets who qualifies: a psychiatrist, a licensed psychologist or a physician who has completed the initial and annual forensic evaluator training the department provides. Evaluators active on the list as of July 1, 2024 had until July 1, 2026 to complete the annual training or come off it. Ask any evaluator whether they are current on that list before a report is commissioned.
- Competence to Stand Trial
- Criminal Responsibility (insanity defense)
- Competency to Waive Miranda Rights
- Mitigation (downward departure)
- Violence Risk Assessments
- Psychosexual Evaluations / Sexual Risk Assessments
- Sexually Violent Predators
- Capital Sentencing
- Involuntary Commitment and Treatment
- Expert Witness Testimony
- Consultation
Our experts have extensive knowledge in providing psychological assessments for youth and adolescents throughout various governmental and private entities, including the Department of Juvenile Justice, ChildNet, Communities Connected for Kids, and the Court, as well as additional organizations.
Having substantial expertise in civil law assessments, our team also emphasizes family law evaluations. Dr. Colet, a forensic psychologist in Doral, FL, conducts each assessment using an impartial, methodical, and thorough methodology.
Guardianship carries the tightest clock of any civil evaluation in Florida. Section 744.331(3) gives the court 5 days from the filing of a petition for determination of incapacity to appoint a 3-member examining committee. One member must be a psychiatrist or other physician. The other 2 may be a psychologist, a gerontologist, an advanced practice registered nurse, a registered nurse, a licensed social worker, a person holding an advanced degree in gerontology, or another qualified expert. Each member files a report with the clerk within 15 days of appointment, and each examination has to cover a physical examination, a mental health examination and a functional assessment.
- Personal / Emotional Injury
- Psychological Factors in Physical Trauma
- Independent Medical Examinations (IME)
- Immigration
- Guardianship
- Civil Commitment
- Pre/Post Adoption Evaluation
- Mental Competency Examinations
- Psychological Autopsy – Assessment of Suicide
- Expert Witness Testimony
- Consultation
In civil court, forensic psychologists serve an essential function in evaluating psychological aspects in personal injury matters, performing neuropsychological assessments, assessing claimants in workers’ compensation situations, and establishing capacity for wills, powers of attorney, or guardianship for incompetent persons.
Since 2023, Florida family courts start from a rebuttable presumption that equal time-sharing is in the best interests of the child, under section 61.13(2)(c)1. A party rebuts it by a preponderance of the evidence. Section 61.13(3) then lists 20 best-interest factors, (a) through (t). A parental capacity evaluation earns its place by speaking to the factors actually in dispute, with data, rather than walking all 20 at the same shallow depth.
Social investigations are narrower than most parents expect. Section 61.20 limits who may conduct one: qualified staff of the court, a child-placing agency licensed under section 409.175, a psychologist licensed under chapter 490, or a clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist or mental health counselor licensed under chapter 491. Anyone outside that list cannot produce the report the court ordered.
- Parental Capacity Assessments
- Social Investigations
- Psychological Evaluations
- Expert Witness Testimony
- Consultation
In family court, psychological consultations vary since the central emphasis is the children’s welfare. Psychologists provide consultations and evaluations sought by parents, organizations such as ChildNet or Community Connected for Kids, or the court.
Psychologists frequently conduct custody and visitation assessments to determine the optimal arrangements for the children, which can also include evaluating possible maltreatment risk elements.
Language And Test Validity In A Doral Evaluation
93.3% of Doral residents age 5 and over speak a language other than English at home, and 70.3% of the city is foreign born. Population was 81,634 as of July 1, 2025. Those figures come from US Census Bureau QuickFacts, drawing on the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey.
That changes what a defensible evaluation looks like here. The language the testing was administered in, whether the norms for each instrument were developed on a comparable population, and whether an interpreter was involved all sit inside the “reliable principles and methods” condition of section 90.702. A report that never states which language the clinical interview was conducted in has left a gap that opposing counsel can open on cross.
The 3-Question Language Screen
Put these to any evaluator before a Doral case goes forward:
- Which language will the clinical interview and the testing be conducted in, and who decides?
- If an interpreter is involved, will the report name that fact and describe how it affected administration and scoring?
- Were the norms for each instrument developed on a population comparable to the examinee, and does the report say so?
An evaluator who cannot answer all 3 in writing has given opposing counsel its first line of attack.
Expert Witness Testimony In Criminal, Civil, And Family Law
Testifying is a separate skill from evaluating. A report can be sound and still come apart on cross when the witness cannot explain, in plain language and without retreating into jargon, why a particular instrument was chosen and what its limits are.
Our forensic psychologist in Doral, FL has given expert witness testimony in criminal, civil and family law matters, and works with attorneys on case strategy before a report is ever commissioned. That earlier conversation is usually worth more than the report itself: it settles what the referral question actually is, which is the thing most often got wrong.
About Us
Forensic and Clinical PsychExperts has worked with Florida courts since 2008. Our forensic psychology specialists write evaluations for one audience, a judge, and every methodological choice in a report is made with the section 90.702 test in view.
The practice covers criminal, juvenile, civil and family matters, and our reports are written to be read by people who are not clinicians. Where an opinion cannot be supported by the data collected, the report says so.
Ask a Question
Doral Forensic Psychology Questions
Does it matter that your office is not in Doral?
No. A Florida psychology license is valid statewide under chapter 490, so a report prepared in Fort Lauderdale or Jupiter is admitted in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit on the same terms as one prepared in Miami-Dade. Admission turns on section 90.702, not on the evaluator’s address.
Which court will hear my Doral case?
Doral is in Miami-Dade County, served by Florida’s Eleventh Judicial Circuit. It runs 9 divisions across 123 circuit and county judges, including Criminal, Family, Unified Family Court and Probate.
How many experts will the court appoint for a competency evaluation?
In an adult criminal case, no more than 3, under section 916.115(1). In a juvenile delinquency case, not less than 2 and not more than 3, under section 985.19. Each expert must hold the forensic evaluator training the state requires, and juvenile work requires a separate juvenile competency training.
Can the evaluation be conducted in a language other than English?
Ask before you commission the report. 93.3% of Doral residents age 5 and over speak a language other than English at home, so the question comes up in most cases here. The report should state the language of administration, whether an interpreter was involved, and whether the norms used fit the examinee. Those choices sit inside the reliability condition of section 90.702.
How quickly does a guardianship examining committee have to move?
Fast. The court appoints the 3-member committee within 5 days of the petition being filed, and each member files a report within 15 days of appointment, under section 744.331(3).
What rebuts the 50-50 time-sharing presumption in a Florida family case?
A preponderance of the evidence that equal time-sharing is not in the best interests of the child, under section 61.13(2)(c)1. Section 61.13(3) sets out the 20 factors the court weighs.
Latest News and Research
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