PTSD in the Courtroom: What Attorneys Need to Know

In this episode of Emotional Damages, Dr. Ambarin Faizi speaks with Dr. James Armontrout, forensic psychiatrist and Program Director of the Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. Drawing on his extensive experience treating veterans with PTSD and conducting over hundreds of forensic evaluations, Dr. Armontrout offers attorneys an in-depth look at how trauma unfolds, how PTSD is diagnosed, and what distinguishes reliable psychiatric assessments in litigation.

Key topics discussed include:

• What separates acute trauma from chronic PTSD in legal claims
• How forensic psychiatrists distinguish genuine symptoms from exaggeration
• What modern PTSD treatment really looks like—and why it's relevant to litigation
• The roles of psychological testing and interview structure in reliable assessments
• How multi-plaintiff cases benefit from expert coordination and team-based evaluation

Whether you're handling a single plaintiff or a complex multi-plaintiff case, this episode will help you better understand how PTSD fits into the legal landscape.

Dr. James Armontrout is a forensic psychiatrist at fpamed and the Program Director of the Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship. He previously served as a staff psychiatrist at the VA Palo Alto Trauma Recovery Program, where he treated veterans with PTSD and substance use disorders. He specializes in trauma-related and substance use disorders.

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