Defending Against Emotional Distress

Insurance companies can increase their success in defending against fraudulent or exaggerated claims for emotional distress when they use a legal strategy that has proven highly effective in discrediting plaintiff and expert testimony. This strategy provides more tactical options to defense attorneys and, in most cases, eliminates the high risk of the dueling expert witnesses approach that has long dominated legal battles. In a typical scenario, a plaintiff’s attorney either calls a treating psychiatrist or psychologist as an expert, or hires a forensic expert to examine the plaintiff and render a causation opinion regarding the complaint of emotional distress. In response, the respective defense attorney retains experts to conduct separate examinations in an attempt to find a contradictory causation explanation. This model, although widely used, has a high risk factor.