Psychiatric consultation to attorneys for abused and neglected children.

This paper summarizes the experiences and findings of a child psychiatrist as consultant to attorneys who represent abused and neglected children in court proceedings. The impact of psychiatric consultation on the attorney's legal representation of the child client are discussed. Subjects of the psychiatric consultations were 40 families containing 63 children. The attorney's representation of the child was modified in all 40 families (cases), and the initial legal representation custody plans were changed following psychiatric consultation in 21 of the 40 families.