Brodsky, S. L. (1991). Testifying in court: Guidelines and maxims for the expert witness. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

(from the introduction) For the past 20 years I have been leading workshops for mental health professionals about testifying in court. What I have learned is that for some potential expert witnesses, the prospect of ever testifying in court is frightening. For other witnesses, a particular kind of case is difficult: sometimes insanity pleas or child custody cases. For still other expert witnesses, testifying is a time of professional mastery, occasionally elation, a chance to explain and defend their knowledge in a public forum.

My emphasis in this book is in direct response to these dreadful and wonderful experiences on the witness stand. I have focused on the cross-examination process: the questions often asked, the power and control gambits attorneys use, the lines of questions, the nonverbal parrying, and the special limitations of courtroom rules. The basic lessons here are directed at allowing the witness to comply faithfully with the oath of honesty, to be responsive to the questions asked and to the witness role, and to be able to defend oneself, one's opinion, and one's integrity.

No one answer or set of answers can serve for every witness in court, nor is this book a dictionary that provides a definitive response to every cross-examination question. Rather, this is a book intended to do one thing: to present a way of thinking about court testimony and to offer a series of choices and alternatives for thinking about testifying in court. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2000 APA, all rights reserved)

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