In our case it has nothing to do with the Dr not wanting to go to the courthouse. It is for the safety and privacy of the patient. We take very few cases to court. More often than not we either have stabilized the patient enough and discharged them or the client once on some of the medications kick in realize they need help and agree to become voluntary. The other thing we really try to do is work with the patient and all lawyers involved. Often the day of the hearing, before the proceedings start there is a lot of discussions by all those involved (Dr, DA, patient lawyer, independent medical examiner, familymembers, client outside providers, etc) to come to some type of agreement so the client is discharged as soon as possible but also safe.

Our facility hates going to court because frequently these are clients known to is from other admissions and we know it can effect the theraputic alliance.