Talmadge Law Firm
Wrongful baker act attorney and lawyer serving all of Florida
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Welcome to Talmadge Law Firm
Feel your legal rights have been abused during a Baker Act in Florida? Need an experienced Baker Act lawyer who only works on these cases. We begin working immediately using remote technology. We assure confidentiality.
ABOUT US:
The Baker Act went into effect in Florida as a result of numerous concerns about the civil rights of people in psychiatric hospitals. When you or someone you love (even a child) is confined for involuntary psychiatric examination in Florida, they have rights and the length of time they may be held is limited.
While I am a Baker Act lawyer, I also am a Ph.D. psychologist, I have had experience as part of the medical staff of numerous hospitals. Additionally, I worked for the public defender’s office which typically receives automatic appointments for patients to have a lawyer for the Baker Act when a facility files a petition for involuntary treatment.
–Understanding of Patient Rights
Thanks to my extensive background as a psychologist and a Baker Act lawyer, I have an in-depth knowledge of mental illness and the rights of patients and their families. I have experience with the requirements for discharge, how long a Florida facility may hold a patient, and experience getting people who were improperly confined released. As a lawyer, I have continued to focus strictly on Baker Act patients in my practice.
Whether your concerns pertain to the criteria law enforcement used or a criteria that a physician used, or your concern is how the facility is handling the admission, you need a Baker Act lawyer. We are here to serve as an advocate for you or your loved one.
Whether you need help having a patient discharged, or you have been informed by the facility that they are requesting an involuntary confinement, a Baker Act lawyer can help. Contact Talmadge Law Firm immediately with any Baker Act question or concerns or if you feel there was a civil rights violation during any part of the process of evaluating you or your loved one.
In need of help from a superb Baker Act lawyer?
The Baker Act was initiated over 200,000 times in recent years. About 36,000 initiations involved a child. No lawyer was involved for help at this stage of the Baker Act. A lawyer from the Public Defender’s office only gets involved in a Baker Act to help after a receiving facility files a petition for continued treatment. In most Baker Act cases, no lawyer is involved to help guarantee your rights are observed. Many Baker Act initiations are wrongful. Baker Act initiation is different than the facility filing a petition.
Why Us?
You need your own experienced Baker Act lawyer to help. I am a lawyer and forensic psychologist very familiar with Baker Act laws, rules, and typical procedures. My law practice concentrates on working on Baker Act issues and practices only Baker Act law. Free self-help is insufficient. Most likely, legal rights guaranteed by Florida and Federal laws weren’t observed.
- Economical-Designed for self-help not requiring a lawyer
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You need a lawyer to explain the process, get transferred, discharged, contact the facility, and to work on your behalf.
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You want a Baker Act attorney familiar with Florida laws and rules to complain after discharge.
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Get correct information about your gun rights and background checks from an experienced Baker Act lawyer.
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No office visit required.
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Virtual office makes use of latest electronic technology. Confidentiality ensured.
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Flat fee instead of hourly rate
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Discharge service with regulatory complaints included in fee.
What is a Baker Act?
The Florida Mental Health Act, “Baker Act,” allows the involuntary examination of individuals based on mental illness and “reason to believe” there is a substantial likelihood that without care or treatment the person will cause serious bodily harm to himself or herself or others in the near future. The Baker Act can be initiated by judges, law enforcement officers, or mental health professionals. It is most often initiated by law enforcement or ER doctors. Once initiated, a person’s status is involuntary regardless of whether they sought help voluntarily. At the point of initiation of a Baker Act examination, no attorney is involved. You need a Baker Act lawyer. Don’t wait until the facility files a petition (“32) before you get a lawyer.
The Baker Act is governed by Florida law. People get a Baker Act anywhere in Florida, even if the person is visiting from out of state. Often, a family takes the individual or their child to an ER for help and/or law enforcement intervenes. Many initiations are wrongful because the criteria are not met. Although Baker Act times to begin an examination are different for a child, most requirements for an adult and a child are the same.
Contrary to the original goal to help those involved, individuals are taken to a psychiatric receiving facility against wishes. Once a Baker Act occurs, individuals are not free to leave and no one can simply “take them home” until the receiving facility decides to discharge them. If the receiving facility files a petition with a court to keep the patient, it can hold him/her longer for a hearing. Then a judge will decide. By then it may be too late.
Often, Baker Act initiation is either wrongful and/or unfair. Conflicting information is given about “voluntary” or involuntary status, competence, medication, restraint, seclusion, communication, medical records, transfer, or firearm rights. Sometimes, a stranger rather than a family member or friend is asked to make decisions about treatment. In some Baker Act cases, a person might even be considered a voluntary patient after signing one of several papers given in a stack of documents they are given to sign. To “add insult to injury,” the patient will also have fees charged by the receiving facility/hospital. Sometimes you will not be told whether the patient is there! “I can’t confirm or deny….”
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