The two most important products of forensic work are expert testimony and the written reports that precede it. Experience and reflection combine to reveal certain core ethical premises. In 2005, the governing council of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law adopted revised ethical guidelines for the practice of forensic psychiatry. In addition to defining the subspecialty and its purpose, the guidelines recognized the competing duties involved in forensic practice and the need to balance duties to the individual and to society. In order to claim legitimacy as forensic experts with specialized knowledge, skills, experience, training, and education, the authors believe that basic professional obligations must be joined to professional aspirations that protect the integrity of our specialty. Unlike the clinical report, where description and data serve the purpose of supporting diagnoses and treatment interventions, the forensic report serves other purposes at the intersection of clinic and courtroom.