Unpopular Opinion: The Lindsay Clancy Lawyer “Destroying” Her Psychiatrists/ Therapists Is Not the Flex People Think It Is

I’ll say it: **this whole thing pissed me off.**
Watching people celebrate a defense attorney for making clinicians look incompetent, while treating cross-examination like a medical-board investigation, is becoming absurd.
There are negligent clinicians. Poor assessments and poor documentation exist, and when the evidence establishes a violation of the standard of care, clinicians should absolutely be held accountable.
But “30-minute appointment,” “the note wasn’t long enough,” “why didn’t you call her parents,” “why wasn’t she hospitalized,” “she went to McLean,” or “she was prescribed 13/14 medications” are not, by themselves, proof of malpractice.
Clinicians aren’t detectives or mind readers. They assess the patient in front of them using the information available **at that time.** If an adult patient minimizes, misrepresents, or doesn’t disclose something, clinicians don’t magically know the truth and can’t simply accuse the patient of lying.
Ideation also does not automatically equal imminent dangerousness. Risk assessment involves intent, plan, means, behavior, history, mental status, protective factors, circumstances, and clinical judgment.
And documentation is not a transcript. A short note doesn’t automatically mean a bad assessment any more than a five-page templated note proves excellent care.
What particularly pisses me off is the **lawyer worship.** Cross-examination is advocacy. His job is to challenge witnesses and advocate for his client. Making a psychiatrist’s answer sound shocking does not magically turn him into an expert on psychiatric standard of care.
Maybe legitimate failures in her care will ultimately be established. If so, criticize those failures based on evidence and expert review.
But knowing that something horrific happened and then working backward until every appointment, prescription, note, and decision suddenly looks like an obvious warning sign isn’t forensic brilliance.
**It’s all hindsight bias**