The emergency department confronts the mental health practitioner with a va
riety of forensic issues. The clinician must have a working knowledge of in
formed consent, emergency petitions, risk assessment of violence toward sel
f and others, involuntary hospitalization, patient dumping, transfer of pat
ients, and seclusion and restraint. Special rules, regulations, and duties
also exist for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals who prov
ide emergency services. Understanding legal duties and regulations that gov
ern delivery of emergency psychiatric care allow the development of clinica
lly based risk management that decreases defensiveness and Liability exposu
re, while enabling the clinician to provide appropriate treatment.