Workers' Compensation

Considering an expert: return to work, alternative work or permanent disability

The considering stage decides which of three vocational questions the claim raises. The first is whether the worker can return to the pre-injury job, with or without modification, which turns on a job analysis of that position against the treating restrictions. The second is whether suitable alternative work exists within the restrictions, in the worker's labor market and at what wage. The third, in claims that reach permanency, is the worker's loss of earning capacity under the state's framework. Counsel identifies which question is live from the claim file, the restrictions on record and the stage the claim has reached, because each calls for a differently scoped engagement and a differently written report.

This stage also decides whether retraining or vocational rehabilitation is under consideration, since an expert asked to evaluate a retraining plan needs a different brief from one asked to evaluate placement.

Retaining: the job analysis, the restrictions and the forum's expectations

Retention in a compensation claim starts from the pre-injury job description and the treating physician's restrictions, and the engagement should say whether the expert is to perform a job analysis at the workplace, a records-based one, or both. The claim file, wage statements, any functional capacity evaluation and any prior vocational reports complete the package. KWVRS vocational experts write compensation reports in the forum's own terms, distinguishing the return-to-work and alternative-work findings from any earning capacity opinion, and document the labor market survey with employers, contacts and dates so that it can be checked.

Because the forum and its procedure differ from state to state, the engagement letter should identify the jurisdiction, the stage of the claim and the deadline for the report, and counsel should confirm the governing rules for the expert's role before the work begins.

Preparing for deposition: procedure, the job analysis and the alternatives identified

Deposition in a compensation claim tests the job analysis and the alternative occupations more than the theory behind them. The expert prepares to describe how the physical, cognitive and environmental demands of the pre-injury job were documented, how each treating restriction was mapped against them, and why each alternative occupation identified is within the restrictions and available in the worker's market. Retraining recommendations are defended on the worker's aptitudes and the program's placement record. Preparation also covers the procedural setting, because a civil litigation posture carried into a compensation deposition reads as a mismatch with the forum.

Where the claim runs alongside a civil action, the expert prepares to explain how the compensation analysis and the civil damages analysis differ and why the two reports do not contradict each other.

Hearing testimony: the tribunal's questions in the tribunal's terms

Testimony in a compensation claim is usually given to an administrative judge or hearing officer rather than a jury, and the presentation is adjusted accordingly: shorter, organized around the statutory questions, and documented rather than dramatized. The expert states the job demands, the restrictions, the alternative work and any retraining recommendation, with the labor market documentation available for the record. Cross-examination follows the state's procedure, and the testimony must be consistent with the report and any prior deposition. Counsel confirms the forum's rules on expert testimony and sequences the vocational witness after the medical evidence on restrictions is in.