New Book from James Publishing Shows Lawyers How to Expose Unscrupulous Doctors
Costa Mesa, CA, December 30, 2008 --(PR.com)-- James Publishing announced plans to publish Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors, a new book by Dorothy Clay Sims, a senior partner at Sims, Amat & Henry in Florida, who has developed a specialty helping lawyers depose and cross-examine defense doctors.
The book, scheduled to be released in February 2009, reveals the games defense medical examiners play, and provides proven deposition and cross-examination techniques and questions for making juries angry at misrepresentation.
“When I first began to cross-examine doctors, I was drowning. Doctors were frequently citing complicated psychological tests to support their claims that my clients were frauds,” said Sims, “I began to research the tests as well as the methods and learned that some doctors were misrepresenting conclusions and test results.”
Sims interviewed authors of the tests, watched hours of the tests being administered, and took the tests herself. She kept a long list of the ways some defense doctors were altering test data and developed strategies to expose them.
Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors covers the dishonest defense tactics Sims has encountered, explains where the doctors are vulnerable, provides citations to the underlying research, and then gives the exact questions to use in depositions and trial examinations to exploit the weaknesses in DME testimony.
Dr. Michael Freeman, co-author of From “Good Hands” to Boxing Gloves and Litigating the Minor Impact Soft Tissue Case, calls Sims’ perspective “remarkably insightful.” He explains, “She has gotten inside the heads of these folks and understands what frightens them; her book is a tutorial in not only how to effectively neutralize DMEs but in how to expose their mendacious ways.”
Richard Friedman, author of Polarizing the Case agrees, “Dorothy Sims has spent more time and creative energy addressing the problem of dishonest IME doctors than any lawyer in America. Each page of Sims' book is an explosion of bold, creative thinking. I plan to review this book every time I take an IME deposition.”
Excerpt from Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors:
“When Doctors Claim Malingering Based on a Test That Is Not a Malingering Test
Often, bad doctors will ignore the multiple validity scales within these tests and claim malingering by relying on, say, poor scores on Trailmaking A (which is not a malingering test but, in fact, is a test of the executive function of the brain). Expose this dishonesty. For example:
Q: So, doctor, you gave my client the MMPI-2, correct?
Q: My client passed all validity scales, right? He passed the Vrin, Trin, L, K, Fp, Fb, and the F-scales, correct? (These are various validity scales within the MMPI-2, designed to determine whether the individual gave true effort and the test results are reliable. See §7:08).
Q: Let’s see now, that’s seven different scales to tell us if the plaintiff is approaching the test in an honest and straightforward manner, and my client passed them all?
Q: But you conclude malingering depression based on the PASAT, which was never created as a malingering scale, has no manual permitting or even encouraging the test to be interpreted in such a way, does not have any standardized scoring manual, and does not test for depression, right?”
If the doctor claims the test he administered actually was created for the purpose of determining malingering, have him read into the record what the test was created for, as indicated in the manual.”
A 14-page excerpt on debunking claims of exaggeration and malingering further illustrates Sims’ approach. Available to view at www.jamespublishing.com/books/exp.htm
About the Author
Author and attorney Dorothy Clay Sims has spent over 10 years researching doctors and how they examine patients. A senior partner at Sims, Amat & Henry in Gainesville and Ocala, Florida, she focuses her practice on cross-examining physicians in personal injury and criminal cases. Sims teaches trial lawyers and psychologists across the U.S., and has taught Grand Rounds for the University of Florida College of Medicine in the Forensic Psychiatry Department. She has given over 200 lectures throughout U.S., Canada, Japan, and India, including speeches at State Bar Associations, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Association of Justice.
Dorothy Clay Sims’ work has been covered in numerous business and law publications, including the ABA Journal, Lawyers Weekly USA, and Wall Street Journal.
Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors is published by James Publishing (www.jamespublishing.com), which has been bringing practical and affordable books to lawyers since 1981.
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The book, scheduled to be released in February 2009, reveals the games defense medical examiners play, and provides proven deposition and cross-examination techniques and questions for making juries angry at misrepresentation.
“When I first began to cross-examine doctors, I was drowning. Doctors were frequently citing complicated psychological tests to support their claims that my clients were frauds,” said Sims, “I began to research the tests as well as the methods and learned that some doctors were misrepresenting conclusions and test results.”
Sims interviewed authors of the tests, watched hours of the tests being administered, and took the tests herself. She kept a long list of the ways some defense doctors were altering test data and developed strategies to expose them.
Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors covers the dishonest defense tactics Sims has encountered, explains where the doctors are vulnerable, provides citations to the underlying research, and then gives the exact questions to use in depositions and trial examinations to exploit the weaknesses in DME testimony.
Dr. Michael Freeman, co-author of From “Good Hands” to Boxing Gloves and Litigating the Minor Impact Soft Tissue Case, calls Sims’ perspective “remarkably insightful.” He explains, “She has gotten inside the heads of these folks and understands what frightens them; her book is a tutorial in not only how to effectively neutralize DMEs but in how to expose their mendacious ways.”
Richard Friedman, author of Polarizing the Case agrees, “Dorothy Sims has spent more time and creative energy addressing the problem of dishonest IME doctors than any lawyer in America. Each page of Sims' book is an explosion of bold, creative thinking. I plan to review this book every time I take an IME deposition.”
Excerpt from Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors:
“When Doctors Claim Malingering Based on a Test That Is Not a Malingering Test
Often, bad doctors will ignore the multiple validity scales within these tests and claim malingering by relying on, say, poor scores on Trailmaking A (which is not a malingering test but, in fact, is a test of the executive function of the brain). Expose this dishonesty. For example:
Q: So, doctor, you gave my client the MMPI-2, correct?
Q: My client passed all validity scales, right? He passed the Vrin, Trin, L, K, Fp, Fb, and the F-scales, correct? (These are various validity scales within the MMPI-2, designed to determine whether the individual gave true effort and the test results are reliable. See §7:08).
Q: Let’s see now, that’s seven different scales to tell us if the plaintiff is approaching the test in an honest and straightforward manner, and my client passed them all?
Q: But you conclude malingering depression based on the PASAT, which was never created as a malingering scale, has no manual permitting or even encouraging the test to be interpreted in such a way, does not have any standardized scoring manual, and does not test for depression, right?”
If the doctor claims the test he administered actually was created for the purpose of determining malingering, have him read into the record what the test was created for, as indicated in the manual.”
A 14-page excerpt on debunking claims of exaggeration and malingering further illustrates Sims’ approach. Available to view at www.jamespublishing.com/books/exp.htm
About the Author
Author and attorney Dorothy Clay Sims has spent over 10 years researching doctors and how they examine patients. A senior partner at Sims, Amat & Henry in Gainesville and Ocala, Florida, she focuses her practice on cross-examining physicians in personal injury and criminal cases. Sims teaches trial lawyers and psychologists across the U.S., and has taught Grand Rounds for the University of Florida College of Medicine in the Forensic Psychiatry Department. She has given over 200 lectures throughout U.S., Canada, Japan, and India, including speeches at State Bar Associations, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Association of Justice.
Dorothy Clay Sims’ work has been covered in numerous business and law publications, including the ABA Journal, Lawyers Weekly USA, and Wall Street Journal.
Exposing Deceptive Defense Doctors is published by James Publishing (www.jamespublishing.com), which has been bringing practical and affordable books to lawyers since 1981.
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Contact
James Publishing
Kristine McDowell
(714) 755-5475
www.jamespublishing.com
Kristine McDowell
(714) 755-5475
www.jamespublishing.com
Contact
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