Thomas Gutheil, Linda Jorgenson & Pamela Sutherland, Prohibiting Lawyer-Client
Sex, 20 Bulletin of the American Academy of Psychiatry and Law 365 (1992).
Psychotherapists' and physicians' sexual contact with their patients has been
long held as unethical conduct. However, lawyers' sexual contact with clients has
been largely ignored in the professional literature. This article uniquely anatomizes
the similarities in the vulnerabilities and power imbalances that exist between
psychotherapists' and lawyers' relationships with patients/clients. These characteristics enable the professiional to exert undue influence over the less-powerful party,
and for these reasons lawyers should be held to fiduciary standards in their personal
dealings with clients. The authors propose a rebuttable presumption that sexual
contact between an attorney and client was obtained through the attorney's exercise
of undue influence and was therfore a breach of the attorney's fiduciary duties
to the client.
Larry Strasburger, Linda Jorgenson & Pamela Sutherland, The Prevention of
Therapist Sexual Contact: Avoid the Slippery Slope, 46(4) American Journal
of Psychotherapy 544 (1992).
Sexual contact between psychotherapists and patients is unethical, exploitative,
and harmful. It commonly begins through breaches of appropriate therapeutic
boundaries. A preventive approach involves training clinicians, educating the
public, and establishing an institutional policy. Treatment of victims raises issues
that require special attention in order to forestall further injury.
Paul Appelbaum, Linda Jorgenson & Pamela Sutherland, Sexual Relationships
Between Physicians and Patients, 154 Archives of Internal Medicine 2561
(1994).
In the face of evidence suggesting that there is a substantial incidence of sexual contact
between physicians of all specialties and their patients, the medical profession and the courts
have not yet reached a consensus regarding appropriate responses. Some commentators,
including the American Medical Association, have urged bans on sexual contact during
treatment and extensive restriction of posttreatment sexual relationships. Others favor looser
restrictions, paricularly after termination of the physician-patient relationship. These differences in
approach stem from the varying importance given the two conflicting values involved: (1) protecting
patients from being harmed by unfair manipulation by physicians and (2) insulating
choices about intimate relationships from intrusion by society. We propose a model for balancing
these interests that would bar sexual contact during the physician-patient relationship and for a fixed period after
termination; therafter, in most cases, sexual relationships would not be proscribed.
A waiting-period approach of this sort is likely to diminish most of the harms that might result from
\physician-patient sexual contact and may constitute a template for the resolution of similar
issues elsewhere in society.
(Arch Intern Med. 1994;154:2561-2565)
Steven B. Bisbing, Linda Mabus Jorgenson & Pamela K. Sutherland, Sexual Abuse
by Professionals: A Legal Guide (Michie/Butterworth Company, 1995).
Pioneering analysis for uncharted territory
As the first comprehensive exploration of the legal issues surrounding sexual
exploitation by fiduciaries, Sexual Abuse by Professionals breaks new
ground. It offers seminal discussions of specific topics, containing cutting edge
analysis of insurance issues, employer liability, and clergy malpractice. It
examines for the first time sexual misconduct within training and supervisory
relationships in which the potential plaintiff is a student or trainee. It presents
original analysis of sexual exploitation issues in non-therapeutic settings, including those
involving these and other types of professionals:
- Clergy;
- Professors and teachers;
- Boy Scout leaders;
- Non-psychiatric physicians;
- Attorneys.
Practical information for a broad audience
Sexual Abuse by Professionals guides the practicing attorney through the full
spectrum of sexual misconduct liability and litigation issues - from screening
a potential case for merit to assessing each element of a claim or defense.
Clearly written and free of technical jargon, the book is a "must read" for
anyone who might be affected by the personal, professional, and legal
consequences of the abuse of fiduciary relationships - clergy, teachers,
physicians, and other non-legal fiduciary professionals and the insurers and
organizational risk managers of the institutions that employ them. Often, the
authors point out, plaintiffs sue the institution not only because it has the
deepest pockets, but because it may be the organization's perceived negligence
that most upsets the plaintiff. Other groups with an interest in Sexual Abuse by Professionals include:
- Regulatory boards and administrative officials;
- Victims and victim advocates;
- Professional organizations.
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