About Us

Founded by General and Forensic psychiatrist, Dr Elnike Brand, with over 30 years of experience, SMC was established with a passionate commitment to making a meaningful impact in the medicolegal sphere. Recognising critical barriers in the market for integrated, high-caliber assessments, and legal report writing, we embarked on a pioneering path.

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The Barriers:

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Disparate Priorities: Psychiatrists place emphasis on clinical accuracy and therapeutic considerations, whilst legal practitioners are focused on legal strategies, case outcomes, client advocacy and evidence-based practices. These differing priorities can result in varied interpretations of the same psychiatric evidence.

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Communication Challenges: The technical language and terminology used in psychiatric reports may not always align with legislative standards or be readily understandable to legal professionals. ​​

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This journey led us to develop an exclusive methodology, unprecedented in its approach, ensuring meticulous and authoritative assessments allowing us to produce gold standard reports that align with the exacting standards demanded in legal proceedings. SMC has a specialised focus on a variety of assessments and with a particular interest in providing services in rural and regional areas nationwide.  

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SMC’s unique, and comprehensive approach significantly enhances the strength of our evidence in court. By providing objective, data-driven insights into psychological aspects and supporting expert evidence with reliable findings, our assessments are credible in legal proceedings. This ensures that the conclusions drawn from our evaluations are well-supported with evidence backed up by current literature and carries substantial weight in the courtroom.

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Making our vision reality, we swiftly expanded by appointing a Legal Director and an IT Director, strategically integrating these disciplines with our medical expertise. This unique fusion of medical proficiency, legal acumen, and technological innovation forms the cornerstone of our success.  Intergration these multidisciplinary practices and ensuring inter-assessor reliability, SMC has streamlined its processes to enhance efficiency and cost-effectiveness. This ultimately benefits both legal practitioners and the courts, ensuring that our services are accessible and reliable across all regions. Our multidisciplinary expertise underpins our success.