Solicitors & Guardians

The CATT Partnership is a small team of experienced Child Mental Health Professionals working together for the benefit of children, undertaking: -

Psychiatric Reports for Court specializing in complex Child Care and Child Placement Issues, and assessments for Criminal Cases including Pre-Sentencing Reports; and including:

• Compensation work
• Independent Reviews, Coroner's Court
• Clinical Child Psychiatric Assessments and Therapeutic Work
• Consultation to other Professionals and Agencies

Medicolegal Work

The medicolegal work covers Criminal and Civil Cases. We are instructed in criminal cases regarding Psychiatric Assessments, and to provide an opinion on specific issues before the Court. Our work in civil cases includes both Public and Private Law, generally in cases under the umbrella of legislation enshrined in the Children Act 1989, and the European Convention on Human Rights, taking joint instructions as appropriate.

We write independent, expert Psychiatric Reports in the best interests of the Child(ren), using our extensive clinical experience and systemic training to overview complex issues around child placement, legal and other child mental health issues. Cases usually involve consideration of a range of issues for the children and family members, alongside the involvement, roles and opinions of other agencies, notably Health, Education, Social Services and Guardians-for-Children. Reports are based on appropriate clinical interviews and other information, such as Bundles of Documents, and previous Health or other Expert Reports, made available to us. Following the recommendations of the Wolff Report, we aim in Civil cases to accept Joint Instructions, and in any case take an independent overview.

Dr Malcolm Bourne, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist has twenty five years’ experience working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health, and has been a Consultant for over twenty years. He is currently the substantive consultant for Blackburn-with-Darwen, based at Burnley General Hospital. He has been working in the medicolegal arena for 18 years, with expertise in the Children Act and areas of Family Law, including Child Care and Placement and the general provision of Psychiatric Reports for the Court.

Clck here to download Malcolm's CV

Maria Farrar, Systemic Therapist, has over 25 years’ experience in Child Mental Health and with Children with Learning Disabilities, most recently in CAMHS-LD in Preston. She has additional qualifications in Child Care Education, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Family Therapy. She has been working in tandem with Dr Bourne since 2004.

Dr Raymond Roth, Clinical Specialist Practitioner, also has over twenty years experience in child and adolescent mental health, with additional qualifications in Clinical Psychology, Family Therapy and Group Therapy. He has been working with Dr Bourne since 1995.

Our multidisciplinary ethos allows us to take a flexible approach tailored to the best interests of the children and families involved, in a fashion unique to the medicolegal field, including the ability to respond, for instance, to children who need to speak to a therapist of a particular gender. We also have special experience and expertise in overviewing the interactions between professional agencies, and between those agencies and families.

Our fees are quoted in the accompanying Terms and Conditions and an estimate is given as part of the initial agreement. We have a rapid turnaround of cases, usually seeing families within a month of agreement of Terms and Conditions, and providing completed Reports within three weeks of Interviews.

Alongside our professional qualifications listed, we are entered in both the Law Society Directory of Expert Witnesses, and the UK Expert Witness Directory.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for an initial informal discussion of any cases.

Medicolegal Fees: Terms and Conditions

Agreement to these forms a private contract between ourselves and the
solicitor(s).

Re: (Childs Name)

I will write an independent, Expert report in the best interests of the child.

Qualifying work (including reasonable travel) and writing of the Report will be charged at £195.00 per hour. Travel and administrative expenses will be charged at cost.

Court attendance as an Expert Witness (including reasonable travel) will be charged at £780.00 per half day (i.e. up to four hours); and at £195.00 per hour thereafter, plus Travel expenses and subsistence at cost. Cancellation of work at less than seven working day's notice will incur 50% of expected fees.

If appropriate, setting up any subsequent clinical work through the National Health Service, for children local to our Service, would be based purely on our own clinical judgment, and would not be charged for. Subsequent private clinical work would again be based purely on our own clinical judgment, and is subject to negotiation and agreement.

In line with BMA guidelines, our fees will not be subject to later taxation by the Court.

Fees are due within 45 days of the completion of the Report. The due date is specifically not dependent on when payment is made by the Legal Services Commission or other third parties. In the case of joint instructions, wither each Representative should agree terms in writing, or the Representative writing directly to me assumes responsibility for ensuring payment of the fees. In the case of non-payment we reserve the right to charge interest at the rate of 2% of the amount owed, per month or part thereof after the due date, plus recovery of costs incurred following up non-payment.

I would be grateful if you would confirm your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions in writing as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Malcolm Bourne
Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist