What Services Does a Vocational Expert Provide?
By Edmond Provder | Published on July 19, 2011 | 0 Comments
Personal injury attorneys know that when a person is involved in an accident that results in serious injury that might permanently impair their ability to earn a living, a vocational expert in NYC can provide services to assess the impact on the Plaintiff’s Injuries on their future employability and earning capacity. Vocational experts work closely with physicians who provide a medical foundation as to the person’s current and future functional capacity.
Edmond Provder is a vocational consultant and life care planner with Occupational Assessment Services Inc., who has more than 35 years experience. Provder explains that an earning capacity evaluation is fairly complex and unique to each injured person. He does however follow a basic procedure that includes four separate steps. The steps include a review of the medical records, a diagnostic vocational interview, vocational testing and local labor market research to determine a person’s future earning capacity.
Different From a Physician
Provder explains that an employability expert in NYC is different from a physician because it is still the physician who provides the medical foundation for the diagnosis and physical limitation of the injured person. A vocational expert on the other hand focuses on the vocational capacity, or what a person can and cannot do for work and to earning a living. The vocational expert is valuable in a court case because they can explain a loss of income based on a reliable, factual analysis.
How Earning Capacity is Determined
According to Provder, there are many ways to determine an adult’s pre-injury earning capacity. The most common way he says is to use W2 statements or previous years’ tax returns. If this is not available or not representative of the Plaintiff’s earning capacity, then a vocational expert can also base his findings from a person’s education level, or analyze what type of work would have been available to him or her if they would have not been injured.
The Value in a Court Case
Provder explains that vocational experts are helpful to personal injury attorneys because they can testify as independent experts that provide accurate information that is helpful to a jury about a client’s employability and future earning capacity. They can present damages in a meaningful and relevant fashion to aid in proving the worth of the case. This type of service is not available from a physician’s diagnosis, or an economist as only a vocational expert can provide such meaningful evidence and testimony in a court setting.
Provder states that the value of a vocational evaluation is highlighted by the fact that Occupational Assessment Services has been involved in 5 of the top verdicts/settlements in 2011 year ranging from 1.5 to 18 million dollars. In cases of serious injury, A personal injury attorney should consult the advice of an employability expert in NYC. For more information on vocational services contact Occupational Assessment Services Inc. directly for a free case consultation.
*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.