Vocational Expert Services for Workers' Compensation Cases
Vocational Expert applied to workers' compensation litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
How Vocational Expert Services applies to Workers' Compensation
Vocational analysis in workers' compensation focuses on return-to-work planning, job analysis of the pre-injury position, identification of alternative work within medical restrictions, and when applicable retraining or vocational rehabilitation services.
Typical deliverables
A written expert report, supporting data appendices, and, when retained, deposition and trial testimony.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does workers' compensation vocational rehabilitation differ from civil vocational evaluation?
Workers' compensation rehabilitation is typically forward-looking and service-oriented, aimed at returning the worker to suitable employment. Civil vocational evaluation is typically evaluative, establishing earning capacity and employability for litigation purposes.
What is a job analysis in workers' compensation?
A job analysis documents the physical, cognitive, and environmental demands of the pre-injury position so that medical restrictions can be mapped to specific job requirements and modifications or alternative placement considered.
Are permanent partial disability ratings the same as earning capacity opinions?
No. PPD ratings are impairment-based and typically derive from the AMA Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. Earning capacity opinions are vocational and labor-market-based.
References
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Contact KWVRS to discuss scope, timing, and the deliverables appropriate to the matter. Plaintiff and defense.