ABSTRACT
The creative practice of law is a sensitive and resourceful blend that combined prudence in its reliance upon tested and established rules and procedures, and enterprise in its use of newer views and procedures that may prove attractive and highly effective. Attorney Sharp might suggest to his client that, by taking a standard psychological examination in conjunction with the execution of his will, he may seek to certify his competency. Attorney Tortle observed, during a period of military hospitalization when on wartime duty, that psychologists were used to assess whether cortical functions had been impaired in a manner that had come to be recognized as characteristic of brain-injured persons. Psychological examinations, consisting of standardized and clinical tests of intellectual functioning, memory, perceptual-motor skills, and the like, were utilized as supportive evidence. The issue of the psychologist's competence to do so has been litigated consistently in the psychologist's favor.
