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Legal Services

Legal Services

At the Behavioural Wellness Clinic, we offer a variety of services for legal cases. We view cases from an empirically-supported model, and use research to support our findings. We prepare reports, offer diagnoses, and can even assist in impartial jury selection.

Family Court

We offer services for child custody disputes, such as comprehensive reports, mental health evaluations, parental competency, conflict resolution, expert testimony, custody evaluation, and parenting coordination. Divorce, separation and family conflict are stressful for all parties involved — our experiences with these issues can help resolve longstanding conflicts in the best interests of children.

Discrimination

Civil Cases

Under the direction of international expert Dr. Monnica Williams, we have performed comprehensive evaluations, written reports, participated in depositions, and testified in court for discrimination cases. Our team has expert witness experience with all forms of discrimination. We have assisted in winning lawsuits against universities, retail conglomerates, municipalities, even state governments.

Our findings often prevent cases from going to trial, uncovering errors and biases that had been missed. One particular area of discrimination we specialize in is racial trauma, a type of PTSD that is often poorly understood. Our seasoned team brings a high level of credibility that is often the difference between settling or going to court.

Criminal Cases

We have been retained by both public defenders and private citizens to assess defendants in criminal casses in Canada and the US. We can provide comprehensive evaluations, depositions and explain our findings in court. From misdemeanours to felonies to capital cases, our team has experience with all forms of cases involving discrimination.

In the Media

Dr. Monnica Williams is a leading voice for social justice internationally.

Jury Selection: Beyond Black and White — What Is Needed to Have Racism-Free Jurors — Impakter
Racism, Gender Bias, and Islamophobia in Family Court: Children Are Harmed When Decisions Are Based on Stereotypes — Psychology Today
The Link Between Racism and PTSD — Psychology Today

Selected Publications

Research Papers

The following scholarly papers have been written by our expert team.

Williams, M. T., Cabral, V., & Faber, S. C. (in press). Psychedelics and racial justice. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-023-01160-5

Williams, M., Osman, M., Gran-Ruaz, S., Strauss, D., & Zare, M. (2023). Performative shooting exercises do not predict real-world racial bias in police officers. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 55(2), 142–152. [invited]

Williams, M. T. et al. (2023, March 3). The Experience of Racism by Public Service Employees. Commissioned by the Office of the Auditor General of Canada (OAG).

Faber, S. C., Strauss, D., Gran-Ruaz, S., La Torre, J., Bartlett, A., Faber, I., Levinson, A., & Williams, M. T. (2022). A call to use psychology for anti-racist jury selection. Practice Innovations, 7(3), 203–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/pri0000172

Williams, M. T. & Kanter, J. W. (2020). The trauma of violent police videos. In L. J. Siegel & M. C. McCormick, Criminology in Canada: Theories, Patterns and Typologies, 7ce (pp. 62-63). Nelson Education. ISBN: 9780176724443

Sawyer, B., DeLapp, R. C. T., & Williams, M. T. (2016). Community Violence Exposure, Racial Discrimination, and Barriers to Treatment: Implications for African American Males in Counseling. In W. Ross (Ed.), Counseling African American Males: Effective Therapeutic Interventions and Approaches (pp. 33-60). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.