When embarking on the journey towards qualification in medical school doctors must learn the new language of medicine. Consisting of esoteric vocabulary and complex phrases, this medical lingua franca facilitates communication between doctors and helps define membership of the profession. More than simply a way of describing, it reflects a new way of thinking that underpins the medical model.

As we progress through our careers many doctors, perhaps especially psychiatrists, will encounter the unfamiliar world of the law in the capacity of an expert witness. This new landscape has its own quite distinct idioms and norms. Rix's Expert Psychiatric Evidence offers a helping hand to guide both the novice and more experienced doctor through the often-challenging interface between medicine and the law.

The second edition brings in the expertise of several additional editors and contributors with substantial medical and legal experience. It also integrates information on different jurisdictions across the British Isles throughout the text, abandoning the previously separate chapter on those areas beyond England and Wales. Taking advantage of the opportunities afforded by the digital age there is now an extensive online version, including invaluable templates that can be downloaded and adapted by the reader.

Chapters cover a wide range of legal topics, dealing with issues such as the role of the expert witness, the types of courts and cases likely to be encountered, and advice for doctors giving evidence in person. Topics include criminal proceedings, personal injury, capacity issues, employment cases and Coroners courts. Many practical issues that may baffle inexperienced medical professionals are also considered in detail, such as how to negotiate instruction from legal counsel, arranging the consultation itself and structuring the resultant report.

The whole volume is presented in an accessible, but erudite style, shot through with tongue-in-cheek humour – ‘The best way to get paid is to be an expert in Ireland’. The chapters are complemented with a wide range of useful appendices, including specimen reports, and online, a host of practical tools, such as consent forms, appointment letters and time sheets. There are even tables of details like cases, statutes and practice directions, for easy reference.

Overall Rix's Expert Psychiatric Evidence offers an excellent practical guidebook to doctors navigating the often alien waters of the legal realm.