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.
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.
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.
| 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. |
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.
How vocational expert applies to the specific demands of each case type: methodology, deliverables, and what counsel should expect.
Full retained-expert engagements are billed hourly across review, evaluation, report, and (if needed) testimony phases. Specific cost depends on case complexity and engagement scope.
Yes. KWVRS provides independent, objective vocational expert for plaintiff and defense counsel. The methodology is the same regardless of which side commissions the work; KWVRS provides neutral analysis grounded in accepted protocols.
KWVRS accepts vocational expert engagements in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. State-specific framing is available on the per-state pages linked below.
Full retained-expert reports typically take 30 to 90 days from records receipt depending on case complexity. Rush turnarounds are accommodated case-by-case.
Contact KWVRS to discuss scope, timing, and the deliverables appropriate to the matter. Plaintiff and defense.