Books by Layne

Dr. Layne wrote two books for psychologists and attorneys; Mid-Atlantic Publishing Company, Richmond, VA, published both. To order them, at $40 each, contact Layne Psychological Services (phone 419-475-1001, fax 419-475-8851).

Know Your Psychological Experts (1992)

In this book, Layne compared good and bad psychological experts. The Scientific Experts focus on litigants' documents, objective behaviors, and especially their psychological tests. Layne compared these good experts with Subjective Experts, who ignore records, interpret rather than describe behavior, ignore tests, and, instead, rely on their murky "intuitions" and "clinical judgments."

Psychological Torts Manual (1993)

Layne divided this second book into two parts. The first is a treatise which criticizes the "physical standard," which prohibits claimants from receiving compensation for mental damages unless they suffer physical damages. Layne argues that this "physical standard" rests on flawed assumptions and is unfair. Layne recommends the "psychological standard," which a few jurisdictions now use. People can and do suffer mental damages, without suffering physical damages, and thus, legal systems should allow them to seek compensation for mental damages alone--even without any "underlying" physical damages. Legal systems should regard psychological damages as parallel with, and equivalent to, physical damages. In the second part of this book, Layne summarizes recent mental-damages cases across the United States, including ones that have produced million-dollar verdicts.