The psychiatric report for legal purposes is the closest professional link between the two disciplines of psychiatry and law. Clarifying the consultation question is a vital component of effective forensic psychiatric report writing. In some reports, a single section briefly describing the subject's personal history may suffice. In others, a more comprehensive and well-delineated breakdown of the personal history into separate sections will provide clarity and detail necessary to support more complex conclusions. The psychiatrist recognizes many components of a clinical psychiatric evaluation. The forensic psychiatric report allows the expert witness to perform a teaching function using their psychiatric education, training, and experience to put psychiatric information and conclusions in a legal context. The forensic psychiatrist uses the report to explain to the legal system how the specific manifestations of the mental illness affected the subject's thinking, judgment, and behavior.