Mediational lawyering in the civil commitment context: A therapeutic jurisprudence solution to the counsel role dilemma.

A mediational lawyering role is proposed as a therapeutic jurisprudence alternative to the two traditional lawyering roles in civil commitments: client-centered-expressed interests (adversary/advocacy) model (lawyers advocate positions that clients favor and allow clients to make ultimate decisions in litigation) and best interests (nonadversarial) model (lawyers join in seeing that clients obtain the help that clients would want if only they knew what is in their own best interests). With a client who has mental disabilities, the adversarial lawyer operates under a presumption that client wishes release from mental health facility or not to be committed; the presumption of the best interests lawyer is that client needs protection, habilitation, and/or treatment. The mediational model is more therapeutic for clients with mental disabilities because it combines the therapeutic aspects and avoids the antitherapeutic aspects of the traditional roles. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)