Duty to predict

One of the current hot issues for me stems from the 1997 decision of the Ohio Supreme Court (Morgan v. Fairfield) which seems to extend Tarasoff to a "duty to predict."

While the actions of the particular psychiatrist, psychologist, and vocational counselor involved may have been less than ideal, the court extended the duty to warn to cases in which a psychotherapist "should know" that a client is a danger to a third party.

The full cite is:

Estates of Morgan et al. v. Fairfield Family Counseling Center; 77 Ohio St. 3d 284; 673 N.E.2d 1311; 1997

• Duty, jurisdiction, et al. by William Reid, 11/5/98