We are court-qualified expert witnesses serving defense, prosecution, family, and civil attorneys across five Florida judicial circuits. Every evaluation is built to the Daubert reliability standard Florida applies under section 90.702, so the methodology holds when opposing counsel moves to exclude. Offices in Palm Beach County and Broward County.
Expert evaluations and testimony for criminal, civil, and family cases
You need an expert whose report survives the challenge, not one who simply has the right letters after their name.
A forensic evaluation fails in court for predictable reasons. The methodology section reads like a clinical chart note. The testing answers a treatment question instead of the legal one. The foundation can’t withstand a Daubert objection. We build the report the other way around: the legal question first, the validated instruments that answer it, and a methodology written to be defended on the stand.
Most practices in this field list services and stop. The questions that decide whether you retain someone go unanswered: what the evaluation actually involves, how to tell a court-ready expert from someone who only lists forensic work, and which courts the evaluator knows. The sections below answer them. FC PsychExperts has served Florida courts since 2008 from offices in Palm Beach County (Fifteenth Circuit) and Broward County (Seventeenth Circuit).
Criminal Cases That Require a Forensic Psychologist in Pompano Beach
Competency to proceed, criminal responsibility, violence and sex-offender risk, and mitigation. Each evaluation is matched to the statute and the standard the court will apply.
Neuropsychological Evaluations
Brain injury, concussion, and cognitive capacity. Used for personal-injury damages, capacity disputes, and competency questions where the brain is the issue.
Personal & Emotional Injury Evaluations
Damages evaluations for plaintiff attorneys: documenting psychological injury, tying it to causation, and stating a defensible prognosis.
Immigration Psychological Evaluations
Extreme-hardship, asylum, and hardship-waiver evaluations for immigration attorneys and applicants, written to the legal threshold each petition must meet.
Psychoeducational Testing
Cognitive and educational testing for children and teens, used in custody disputes, school-placement disagreements, and IDEA matters.
Clinical Psychological Evaluations
Diagnostic evaluations for cases where a clinical question sits inside a legal one, with findings framed for the record.
The 6-Point Admissibility Read
Before you retain any forensic psychologist, run their report through these six questions. It’s the same read we apply to our own reports before they leave the office. A report that can’t answer all six is a report opposing counsel can move to exclude.
- Does the methodology answer the legal question, not a clinical one?
A treatment evaluation describes a person. A forensic evaluation answers a legal standard: competency, capacity, risk, hardship. If the report reads like a therapy intake, it wasn’t built for court.
- Are the instruments validated for this use and this population?
A test normed for one purpose can be challenged when applied to another. Each instrument should fit the referral question and the person being evaluated.
- Is the data sufficient and the chain documented?
Daubert asks whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts or data. Records reviewed, collateral interviews, and test results should be listed and traceable, not summarized away. Thin records review is where reports break under cross-examination.
- Are reliable methods applied reliably to these facts?
The report should show the method, then show it applied to this case. Stating a conclusion and trusting the reader to accept the route to it is what gets struck.
- Did the examiner address alternative explanations?
Effort and symptom-validity testing, malingering, and competing diagnoses should be named and ruled in or out. Self-report alone is rarely enough, and an opinion that leans on it hands cross-examination its opening.
- Can the examiner defend every line on the stand?
The psychologist who wrote the report should be the one who testifies, fluent in the file and ready for a Daubert hearing. We don’t hand cases off.
What a forensic evaluation actually is
Step 1 : Consultation & conflict check
You describe the case and the legal question. We confirm we’re conflict-free and that it’s a question we can answer.
Step 2 : Engagement & records
A signed agreement and the case file. We tell you which records we need and what’s missing.
Step 3 : Evaluation
Clinical interviews, standardized testing, and collateral contacts at the Jupiter or Fort Lauderdale office.
Step 4 : Written report
A detailed report, 25 to 40 pages, built to the admissibility read above.
Step 5 : Deposition & trial
The psychologist who evaluated the case is the one who takes the stand and answers for the report.
The Forensic Psychologists at FC PsychExperts
Dr. Cathy Colet
Forensic PsychologistDr. Cathy Colet is a Licensed Clinical and Forensic Psychologist and founder of Forensic and Clinical PsychExperts, LLC.
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Dr. Lauren Miller
Clinical and Forensic NeuropsychologistDr. Miller has nearly 20 years of experience as a clinician, consultant, lecturer, and writer.
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Dr. Matthew J. Jalazo
Forensic PsychologistDr. Matthew J. Jalazo is a licensed psychologist who has practiced forensic psychology on a full-time basis for the last fifteen years.
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Dr. Christopher J. Beltran
Forensic PsychologistDr. Beltran is a Licensed Forensic Psychologist with over twenty-five years of experience in criminal and family law
Read MoreQuestions Attorneys And Clients Ask
Will your evaluation survive a Daubert challenge?
That’s what we build for. Florida applies the Daubert standard under Fla. Stat. § 90.702, which asks whether an opinion rests on sufficient facts or data, uses reliable methods, and applies them reliably to the facts. We write the methodology section to answer those questions directly, and we run every report through our 6-Point Admissibility Read before it leaves the office.
Is a forensic evaluation the same as therapy?
No. Therapy is supportive and confidential. A forensic evaluation is an objective assessment built to answer a legal question for the court or counsel. The person being evaluated should expect it to feel formal and structured, with interviews, standardized testing, and a review of records, rather than treatment.
How should I check a forensic psychologist’s qualifications?
Look past the directory listing. The recognized specialty credential is board certification by the American Board of Forensic Psychology (ABFP), which you can verify through the ABPP’s public directory. Then ask how recently the psychologist has testified and in what kinds of cases, how many evaluations of your specific type they have done, how familiar they are with your circuit’s procedures, and how they handle validity testing and collateral data.
How long does an evaluation take?
It is multi-session and records-intensive, usually 4 to 8 hours of interviews and testing across 2 to 3 sessions, plus records review and collateral interviews. The written report typically follows in 3 to 4 weeks, with expedited turnaround available when a deadline requires it.
Can I retain my own expert, or does the court appoint one?
In many civil and family matters you or your attorney can retain your own expert. In other situations the court appoints the evaluator. The rules vary by the type of evaluation and the circuit, so confirm the posture of your case before you engage anyone. We work as a retained expert and as a court-appointed evaluator.
Do you testify at deposition and trial?
Yes. The psychologist who conducted the evaluation is the one who testifies. We don’t write a report for one expert and send another to the stand.
Which courts and counties do you cover?
Our offices are in Palm Beach County (Fifteenth Circuit) and Broward County (Seventeenth Circuit). The Jupiter office is minutes from Tequesta and serves the Martin County area (Nineteenth Circuit). We accept cases across Florida’s 1st, 15th, 17th, 19th, and 20th Judicial Circuits.
Request A Case Consultation
Describe the legal question and the deadline. We’ll confirm we’re conflict-free and tell you whether it’s a case we can take.