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Ethical Handling of Subpoenas and Preparing for Depositions or Trial Testifying: Everything the Busy Clinician Needs to Know

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1.  Which of the following accurately defines a subpoena?
  1. A subpoena is a court order.
  2. A subpoena is an unofficial legal document.
  3. A subpoena is a federal court order.
  4. A subpoena is an official legal document that requests/demands records and/or testimony at a deposition or trial.
2.  Which of the following is proper service of a subpoena?
  1. Proper service of a subpoena requires that the subpoena is served in person.
  2. Proper service of a subpoena requires that the subpoena is mailed to the person being served.
  3. Proper service of a subpoena requires that the subpoena is dropped off rather than served in person.
  4. Proper service of a subpoena requires that the subpoena is emailed to the person being served.
3.  How should a clinician ethically respond when receiving a subpoena?
  1. Provide the requested records immediately.
  2. Ignore the subpoena.
  3. First, the clinician should fax a Legal Involvement Policies sheet to his/her attorney.
  4. File it away in their desk.
4.  If the therapist has the client’s permission to release records and/or to testify at a deposition or trial, which of the following should be done in advance of releasing records or testifying?
  1. The therapist should buy some new clothes.
  2. The therapist should invoice the attorney and be sure to get paid prior to the release of records or attendance at the deposition or trial.
  3. The therapist should re-copy all the records before releasing them so that anything not helpful to the client can be deleted.
  4. The therapist should call the client and discuss their wardrobe.
5.  Which of the following statements is TRUE:
  1. When a therapist gets permission from the client to release the records, all is fine and the records should be mailed to the attorney with no further communication.
  2. When a therapist receives a subpoena, it is not his/her ethical duty to communicate with the client about what the records contain and let the client know that s/he has a privilege of confidentiality, and thus may refuse to give permission for the records to be released.
  3. If the client refuses to give permission for the therapist to release the records, the therapist should call the attorney and say that therapist will not release the records.
  4. If the client refuses to give permission for the therapist to release the records, the therapist should call her/his own attorney to discuss filing a Motion to Quash the subpoena.
6.  If the therapist is going to Court or a deposition, which of the following would be helpful to prepare the therapist:
  1. Practicing relaxation techniques in between sessions starting a month or more before the legal event
  2. Drinking more at night to ease the stress before the event.
  3. Talking to friends and family about how stressful the litigation event is for the therapist.
  4. None of the above.
7.  When preparing for deposition or trial testifying it is ideal for the therapist to do which of the following:
  1. Role-play ahead of time with the client’s attorney.
  2. Not worry about preparing because it’s impossible to prepare for deposition or trial testifying.
  3. Role-play ahead of time with the client’s family.
  4. All of the above.
8.  If the therapist is going to be deposed, the therapist should do which of the following?
  1. The therapist should prepare by reviewing the records.
  2. The therapist should discuss with client(s) what the records contain and what “hot spots” (i.e., vulnerable issues) are contained in the record.
  3. The therapist should prepare with the client’s attorney before the deposition if possible.
  4. All of the above.
9.  When preparing for deposition or trial which of the following is helpful for therapists?
  1. It’s helpful for the therapist to understand the difference between therapists’ and litigators’ goals and mindsets.
  2. It’s helpful for the therapist to understand the litigator’s mood.
  3. It’s helpful for the therapist to understand that they should take all attacks by the litigator personal.
  4. It’s helpful for the therapist to take a nap.
10.  A subpoena requests/demands _____________ and/or _______________ at a deposition or trial.
  1. records/ receipts for services
  2. expert opinion/ records
  3. records/ testimony
  4. testimony/ explanation for client's behavior

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