Vocational Expert Services
Comprehensive earning capacity evaluations and vocational assessments for litigation. Our vocational experts analyze an individual's ability to work, earn wages, and sustain employment given their education, training, experience, and medical restrictions.
What is a vocational expert?
A vocational expert is a credentialed rehabilitation professional who evaluates whether a person can work, in which occupations, and at what wage, given that person's education, training, work history and the medical restrictions the treating providers have documented. In litigation the expert gives opinions on employability, earning capacity and access to the labor market, each tied to a named method and a published data source.
The role is forensic rather than clinical: a treating provider or an agency counselor helps a person recover or return to work, while the vocational expert forms an independent opinion for counsel and the court, states it in a written report and answers for it at deposition and trial. KWVRS experts hold credentials such as the CRC, the CVE and the ABVE Diplomate.
What a vocational expert opines on
A vocational opinion rests on six findings, each with its own method and data source. The restrictions bound the work the person can still do, the profile and transferable skills identify the occupations inside that boundary, the labor market test says whether those jobs can be had, and the wage comparison prices the difference over the remaining working years.
Medical restrictions and work capacity
The vocational expert does not measure physical capacity. The treating providers document the restrictions, and where one was ordered a functional capacity evaluation tests lifting, carrying, reaching and sitting or standing tolerance under standardized conditions. The expert's task is to state those findings in work terms: the strength level, the postural and environmental limits, and any cognitive restriction that decides which occupations stay open.
The vocational profile
The profile is the person's education, training and work history, coded job by job. Two classification systems carry the coding. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles rates each occupation for strength, physical demands, working conditions and the training time it requires; O*NET, the Department of Labor's current system, describes tasks, skills, knowledge and abilities and is updated continuously. Both are used because each records something the other does not.
Transferable skills
A transferable skills analysis takes the skills the person built in past work and finds the occupations that use them at a lower exertional level or with different demands. Its output is two lists: the occupations the person could still perform with the restrictions applied, and the occupations the injury or condition has closed. Those lists are the bridge from the profile to the labor market.
Placeability and the labor market
An occupation on the list means little if no employer in the person's region hires for it. Published employment data answers the general question, and where placeability is contested a labor market survey records the openings, the employers and the wages being offered for the specific occupations at issue. The opinion then states how many of the surviving occupations are realistically attainable and why.
Earning capacity
Earning capacity is what a person could earn in the competitive labor market, not what the last pay stub shows, and the two can differ. The opinion sets the capacity that existed before the injury, read from the earnings record and the jobs held, against what the occupations still open pay in published wage statistics, stated as a range. The earning capacity evaluation explainer and the earning capacity versus lost earnings guide develop the distinction.
Worklife and the hand-off to the economist
How long a loss lasts is a separate question from its size in any one year. Worklife expectancy tables give the years a person of a given age, sex and education is expected to keep working, and they bound the projection. The vocational expert supplies the capacity findings and the worklife inputs; the forensic economist turns them into a dollar figure, a hand-off the RAPEL framework makes explicit.
What a vocational evaluation is
A vocational evaluation is the expert's written product: the whole forensic study, from the records through the analyses above to the signed opinion on employability and earning capacity. It is wider than the vocational assessment inside it, which is the interview-and-testing phase and can be left out when the file is complete. The steps and the report format are in the vocational evaluation guide, and the in-person versus file review comparison weighs when that assessment phase earns its cost.
When to retain a vocational expert, by case type
- Personal injury: when the pre-injury job may be beyond the person's capacity and the case needs to know which occupations remain, whether they can be had and what they pay; the opinion supplies the economist's inputs.
- Workers' compensation: when return to work, alternative work within the restrictions or the need for retraining is in dispute under the state's scheme.
- Wrongful termination: when back pay and front pay turn on whether the job search was reasonable and how long comparable employment should have taken to find.
- Discrimination: when an employment claim turns on the positions the employee could have held and their pay, tested with the same profile and labor market analysis.
- Long-term disability: when the policy asks whether the claimant can still do the occupation held or, under a broader clause, any occupation the policy counts.
- Matrimonial: when a spouse is not working or is working below capacity and the court needs a supported figure for what that spouse could earn; the divorce and alimony guide covers that engagement.
How a vocational expert engagement proceeds
Every engagement opens the same way: a conflict check, then the scope, the retainer and the report date fixed in a written agreement, so the file can be read the day it arrives. The six steps below run from that agreement to testimony; the engagement process page describes what happens inside each step and who does it.
- Engagement and conflict check
- Records collection and review
- Vocational interview and assessment
- Transferable skills and labor market analysis
- Earning capacity opinion and report
- Testimony
Typical timeline
A complete report is typically 30 to 60 days from receipt of complete records; the phases below overlap where records allow, and each phase's duration is on the timeline page. A review of an opposing opinion is scoped when that report is disclosed and runs on its own schedule.
- Engagement and records review
- Vocational interview and testing
- Analysis and labor market research
- Draft report
- Deposition and trial testimony
What a vocational expert engagement costs
Fees follow the scope retained, and the scope is counsel's choice: a complete evaluation, a critique of the other side's report, or testimony on an existing report. What moves the total is the size of the file and the number of questions in dispute. The cost guide explains how vocational fees are structured, and the cost page sets out the drivers and the billing terms.
Deliverables
Four deliverables are scoped separately. The written report is the primary product: it is prepared so that it can be disclosed and admitted in the forum where the case is pending, and it is the document the other side will examine. A review of an opposing vocational opinion is a written critique of that report's records basis, the restrictions it applied, its occupational analysis and its wage sources. Deposition and trial testimony rests on the completed report, and the expert who wrote it is the one who testifies. Supplemental opinions follow when new records or a rebuttal report arrive, so the opinion on file stays current through trial.
Who retains a vocational expert
Vocational experts are retained by plaintiff counsel, defense counsel, insurance carriers and, at times, self-represented claimants. The retaining party decides which question is asked; it does not change the method, the records the opinion must rest on or the wage data it must cite. An evaluation retained to support a claim can report that most of the person's capacity survived, and one retained to test a claim can confirm the loss, because the answer comes from the file rather than from the engagement letter. KWVRS accepts either assignment on the same terms.
Who provides vocational expert services at KWVRS
- Daniel Wolstein, Ph.D. - CEO & President
- Matthew R. Putts, Ph.D. - Chief of Vocational Services
- Sharon Hirsh, M.S. - Chief Operating Officer
- Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA - Chief of Economic Services
- John J. Halpin, M.A. - Vocational Rehabilitation Expert
- Kristina Fredericksen-Koleck - Vocational Rehabilitation Expert
- John May, M.A. - Vocational Rehabilitation Expert
- Logan Patterson, M.A. - Vocational Rehabilitation Expert
- Paul J. Bourgeois, Ph.D. - Vocational Rehabilitation Expert & Life Care Planner
Deciding whether to retain a vocational expert
Retain a vocational expert when the case turns on whether a person can work, in which occupations, and at what wage - and when that question needs a documented, testable answer rather than an assumption. The same evaluation supports a claim or tests one, and an evaluation may conclude that little or no capacity was lost.
What the report answers, in order
- Records review: medical, educational, vocational, and employment records, deposition transcripts, and any prior expert reports that bear on vocational capacity.
- Medical restrictions: the physical, cognitive, and environmental limits documented by treating providers and any functional capacity evaluation, stated in work-related terms.
- Vocational profile: work history with occupational codes, education, and skills, supplemented when appropriate by a vocational interview and standardized testing.
- Occupational access: a transferable skills analysis against the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and O*NET that identifies which occupations remain open within the restrictions and which have been lost.
- Placeability: whether the surviving occupations are realistically attainable in the relevant labor market, tested with published employment data and, when contested, a labor market survey.
- Earning capacity opinion: pre-injury capacity grounded in the earnings history and the occupations held, compared with the wage range of the surviving occupations using published wage data, expressed as a reasonable range with the methodology and sources documented.
Each step ties a conclusion to a stated method and identifiable data so the opinion can be followed and tested by either side. The dollar value of any loss is calculated separately by a forensic economist working from the vocational findings; the RAPEL framework describes how the questions fit together.
Engagement scopes
| Scope | What you receive | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Vocational evaluation | A written report covering the six steps above, prepared to the admissibility and disclosure standards that govern expert evidence. | Employability, earning capacity, or transferable skills are in dispute and a disclosed opinion is needed. |
| Review of an opposing vocational opinion | A written critique of the opposing report's records basis, the restrictions applied, the occupational analysis, the labor market evidence, and the wage sources, scoped separately when that report is disclosed. | The other side has disclosed a vocational opinion and its foundation needs testing. |
| Deposition and trial testimony | Testimony on the methodology, data sources, and opinions in the report, with supplemental opinions as new records or rebuttal reports are produced. | The case is on a trial track and the report will be examined. |
Where the vocational question ends
- Lost earnings with no dispute about the ability to work are computed arithmetically by a forensic economist; the vocational opinion is needed when capacity, not just past wages, is contested.
- Physical work capacity that has not been measured is established by a functional capacity evaluation; the vocational report applies those limits rather than measuring them.
- Future medical and care costs belong in a life care plan, which can be coordinated with the vocational evaluation for the same matter.
What to send
- Medical records and any functional capacity or return-to-work assessment.
- Educational, vocational, and employment records, including the earnings history.
- Deposition transcripts and any prior expert reports on vocational issues.
- The scheduling order or disclosure deadline that governs the report.
Who is responsible
Vocational services at KWVRS are led by the Chief of Vocational Services; the vocational rehabilitation experts who also prepare evaluations are listed on the team page.
- Matthew R. Putts, Ph.D. - Chief of Vocational ServicesLicensed professional counselor and certified rehabilitation counselor; leads all vocational services at KWVRS.
Frequently asked: Vocational Expert
What does a vocational expert do in a personal injury case?
The expert establishes what the injury did to the person's ability to work: the restrictions in work terms, the occupations that remain open, whether they can be obtained in the person's own labor market and what they pay against the pre-injury earnings. That opinion feeds the economist's damages calculation and any accommodation plan. The personal injury explainer follows the role from retention to trial.
How long does a vocational expert engagement take?
A complete report is typically 30 to 60 days from receipt of complete records. Complete records at engagement are the largest single time saver, an in-person evaluation or a labor market survey adds to the window, and deposition and trial follow the court's calendar once the report is served. The timeline page shows each phase and its duration.
What does a vocational expert engagement cost?
Fees are hourly against a retainer, and the total tracks the scope counsel selects and the size of the file. KWVRS puts a fee schedule and an estimate in writing before confirming the engagement, so the cost of a complete evaluation, an opposing-report review or testimony on an existing report is known at the outset. The cost page explains what drives the total and how billing works.
Does KWVRS provide vocational expert services for plaintiff and defense?
Yes. KWVRS accepts vocational engagements from plaintiff and defense counsel. The evaluation is built the same way for each: the same records, the same classification systems and the same published wage data, so that the other side's expert can reproduce the analysis and challenge it on its merits. Counsel chooses the question; the evidence decides the answer, which may be that little or no capacity was lost.
What records does a vocational expert need?
Four groups: the medical records, with a functional capacity evaluation where one was done; the education, training and work history and the earnings records behind it; transcripts of depositions and any vocational report already served; and the scheduling order that sets the report date. Gaps are disclosed in the report rather than filled by assumption. The records guide explains what each group adds to the opinion.
Can a vocational expert review an opposing vocational report?
Yes. A review is a written critique of the other side's opinion: which records it relied on and which it lacked, whether the restrictions it applied match what the providers documented, whether its occupational analysis and labor market evidence support the occupations it names, and whether its wage sources are current. It is delivered as its own report and can be paired with a KWVRS evaluation of the same person.
What happens after the report is delivered?
The report is disclosed on the schedule the engagement fixed, and the expert stays with the matter. When the other side's expert reports, or new records arrive, a supplemental opinion updates the analysis. If the case goes forward, deposition and trial testimony rests on the report as written, with preparation placed ahead of each date. A case that settles on the report ends there, with no further phase billed.
Where does KWVRS provide vocational expert services?
In all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the US territories. KWVRS is headquartered in Hackensack, New Jersey, and keeps a Richmond, Virginia office; interviews are held in person or by video, and testimony is given in the forum where the case is pending, in person or remotely as the court allows. The state directory below links the vocational expert page for each state.
Related reading
- What Is a Vocational Evaluation?The six steps, the report and what makes an evaluation forensic.
- Vocational Evaluations in Divorce and Alimony CasesA spouse's earning capacity, imputation and the family court engagement.
- What Records Does a Vocational Expert Need?What each record adds to the opinion and what happens when one is missing.
- Vocational Expert Cost and EngagementHow vocational fees are structured and what attorneys should expect.
- How Long Does a Vocational Evaluation Take?The phases of an evaluation and what shortens or extends them.
- The RAPEL Method for Earning Capacity OpinionsHow vocational experts organize an earning capacity opinion.
- The Vocational Expert in Personal Injury CasesWhen the role is needed and how it meets the medical and economic evidence.
Case Types
Vocational Expert by Case Type
How vocational expert applies to the specific demands of each case type: methodology, deliverables, and what counsel should expect.
Vocational Expert by State
Northeast
Southeast
Midwest
Ready to Get Started on Vocational Expert?
Contact KWVRS to discuss scope, timing, and the deliverables appropriate to the matter. Plaintiff and defense.