A pre-recorded streaming video replay from the May 2017 webcast, Mental Health Ethics 101 in the Criminal Justice System: A Primer for Handling Your Mentally Ill Client.
VIDC Recertification Credit: 2.0
Program Benefits
- Learn the ethical rules associated with handling a mentally ill client
- Understand how to apply the ethical rules when you have a mentally ill client
- Discover how to navigate the difficult and often treacherous landscape of representing the mentally-ill criminal defendant.
The Virginia State Bar's Rules of Professional Conduct form the backdrop of any attorney-client-based interaction. In their application to handling mentally ill clients, the rules are instructive but often difficult to apply in challenging situations that a defense counsel may face. Rule 1.14 spells out a guide for representing "Client with Impairment." Other Rules of importance are Rule 1.1, "Competence"; Rule 1.2, "Scope of Representation"; Rule 1.3, "Diligence"; Rule 1.4, "Communication"; Rule 1.6, "Confidentiality of Information"; and Rule 1.7, “Conflict of Interest". While certainly not exhaustive, as unusual situations may occur that draw in other applicable Rules, these are just some of the rules that a criminal defense attorney must consider when dealing with a mentally ill client.
How to determine where the ethical line is in dealing with your mentally ill criminal client can be difficult, especially when the line itself is in as much flux as your client's mental status. Would you know what to do it if a client is out of custody and tells you that he is going to kill his mother? What is your obligation under the Rules? What if instead of killing his mother, he now states that people are after him and he will shoot anyone who comes near him? What now? What if he makes no threats but you are aware that he is paranoid, delusional, and has guns in his house? How does that alter your position? What if you don't believe him under any of the scenarios? You think he is malingering—what if he's not? What if you truly believe him based on past attorney/client discussions. What do you do? What Rules apply?