What is Medicolegal?

Medicolegal is a term relating to both medicine and law. For example, when a client who has sustained an injury engages a solicitor to act on their behalf in a personal injury case, the case is medicolegal. The solicitors can then engage an Expert to provide a medical opinion. The medical expert’s role is to provide an unbiased medical opinion which is robust enough to stand up in court.

When a brain injury is sustained following an accident, as a neuropsychiatrist, I can provide my expert opinion. Neuropsychiatry encompasses mental disorders, often associated with a brain malfunction perhaps due to injury.

How does medicolegal work?

Once I have been instructed and the appointment with the client is booked, the process will be as follows:

1. I will read all medical files, legal documentation, witness statements, imaging, evidence of any type and any previous expert opinion reports concerning the case
2. I will thoroughly assess the client by appointment, either remotely or face-to-face
3. I will prepare an expert report undertaking any relevant research needed.

A typical medicolegal report is a distilled logical evidence-based legal document that is often a key piece of evidence in personal injury litigation. It needs to be well constructed, rationally argued, and authoritative. It involves many hours of careful preparation.

I have often been singled out for praise for the quality of my written opinions, both in medicolegal cases and clinical letters.  There are many testimonials on this website for you to read as examples of feedback.

I will provide a fee estimate based on how much documentation there is to read and the work involved.

Please do contact me on 020 8087 2989, or email vicki@drbodani.com, with your enquiry or to book an appointment.

What’s my medicolegal experience

I have been an Expert since 2009.

With over 25 years of experience as a psychiatrist, 15 years of which being in Neuropsychiatry, including the last 10 as an Expert for medicolegal purposes, it is no surprise that I receive regular referrals from companies acting on behalf of legal professionals in personal injury cases.  I have worked on more than 120 cases in the past three years alone.  I am one of the leading figures in this field.

I have given expert testimony in both Civil and Criminal cases. I have acted for Defendants and Claimants. I am well versed in providing assessments of mental capacity and have provided opinions on cases throughout the UK.

I am a practising member of the Academy of Experts and an elected Fellow of three Royal Medical Colleges (FRCP UK, FRCP  Edin, and FRCPsych).

I offer domiciliary, clinic or remote appointments. Additional charges may apply for prison or custody visits.