Attorneys\u27 and Judges\u27 Needs for Continuing Legal Education on Mental Disability Law: Findings from a Survey

Attorneys leave law school with limited knowledge and skillsconcerning the issues that arise in mental disability law. Yetpsychiatrists and psychologists are appearing with increasingfrequency as witnesses in the nation\u27s courts, and more attorneysand judges can therefore expect to have to deal with testimony frommental health professionals. To our knowledge, this article is thefirst published assessment of practicing attorneys\u27 and judges\u27needs for continuing legal education (CLE) on mental disabilityissues. The 267 Dayton-area attorneys and 41 southwestern Ohio judgeswho responded to our mailed survey said that one-seventh of theircases raise issues related to mental health or mental disability.Most responders had not taken any law school courses that dealtwith mental disability issues; those who had said their courses wereonly modestly helpful. CLE was the attorneys\u27 and judges\u27principal source of information about mental disability law. Forpracticing attorneys, perceived need for CLE was related to therate at which psychological issues arose in their practices;practicing lawyers and judges were interested primarily in CLEtopics that related to the types of cases they handled or heard.Three-fourths of the attorneys and 95% of the judges said theywould probably or definitely attend locally offered CLE on at leastone subject. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that traditionallaw school course work relating to mental disability does not givefuture attorneys and judges the skills and knowledge necessary totheir practices (e.g., the ability to challenge expert witnesses);CLE might help remedy this deficiency. Legal educators should useour findings when thinking about law school course content andpostgraduate legal education