Explain a civil forensic disability opinion to counsel — CASC communication station

Station brief

Format. Communication station, approximately 7–10 minutes active time after reading. You are the psychiatry registrar providing a preliminary discussion of a civil psychiatric IME with instructing counsel (examiner role-player).[1][3]

Candidate instructions. Explain your forensic role and who retained you. Summarise how you assess psychiatric disability. Separate diagnosis, impairment, disability, and fitness for a specific job. Explain need for records and validity consideration. Resist pressure to rubber-stamp “total permanent disability.” Do not invent statute section numbers. Check understanding.[1][2][5]

Candidate scenario

Counsel says: “She has PTSD on her GP letter. That’s enough — we need you to certify she can never work again, and quote the exact Act section for permanent impairment. If you hedge, the other side will destroy us. Also, skip the old depression notes; they just confuse things.” Your brief: 42-year-old after MVC; mixed anxiety-depressive symptoms; some work capacity suggested by recent part-time activity; incomplete file; possible inconsistent self-report pending full assessment.[1][4][6]

Marking domains

• Clear dual-role / retaining-party disclosure
• Diagnosis ≠ disability ≠ job unfitness
• Structured assessment steps (history, MSE, function, causation, validity)
• Professional resistance to selective data and rubber-stamping
• No invented statutes or universal impairment percentages
• Transparent limitations and next steps for the written report
• Checks counsel understanding; offers criterion-linked written opinion [1][2][3]