Attorneys representing clients with catastrophic injuries and disabilities can face an uphill battle when it comes to turning claims into courtroom wins. Determining the long-term impact on their clients’ ability to work and earn income without clear, evidence-based insights to prove loss of earnings and employability can become a contentious issue in litigation.
This is where a vocational assessment can help your case. Vocational assessments provide objective evaluations that clarify these complexities and support legal arguments. Developed by a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), these assessments provide critical insights that strengthen legal arguments, offering precise evaluations of employability, earning capacity, and the financial impact of injuries.
The Importance of Vocational Assessment After Injury
A vocational assessment after an injury or disability provides a structured approach to assessing an individual's abilities, limitations, and opportunities in the context of employment. It serves as a valuable tool for personal and professional development, rehabilitation, legal proceedings, and ensuring individuals can access meaningful and sustainable career paths.
Vocational Assessment Elements
A vocational assessment includes many components that contribute to evaluating an individual's employability and earning capacity. Key elements include:
Thorough Analysis
Providing a comprehensive analysis of an individual's education, work history, and wage records, a vocational assessment takes a holistic view of the individual to provide accurate guidance on their employment prospects. The analysis, conducted by a CRC, results in a full report summarizing the data and recommendations for employment options, accommodations, retraining needs, and expected earnings.
Pre-Injury Earning Capacity
Pre-injury earning capacity determines an individual's earning capacity before a catastrophic injury or disability. Documenting pre-injury earning capacity metrics provides a baseline for a CRC to then measure loss of earning capacity post-injury. Expert analysis by a CRC establishes a defendable figure for loss of earnings claims.
Calculating Past Lost Wages
Calculating past lost wages helps to determine the income lost from the date of injury up to the expected date of trial or return to work date by calculating the number of days lost and multiplying it by the pre-injury earning capacity. Thorough documentation by a CRC supports the calculation of past lost wages.
Transferable Skills
Identifying the skills that can be transferred to new employment opportunities examines abilities from past education, work experience, and interests that could be utilized in new occupations. The transferable skills still intact after injury enable the individual to expand employment options and earnings potential despite limitations imposed by disability.
Post-Injury Earning Capacity
Post-injury earning capacity evaluates an individual's earning capacity post-injury. This includes medical limitations, suitable alternate jobs, earnings potential in those occupations, and projected annual earnings given the disability. Quantifying remaining earning ability helps determine overall loss of earning capacity due to the injuries sustained.
Labor Market Research
Research into the labor market within a specific geographical area enables CRCs to analyze job availability, salary ranges, and wage projections, considering factors like economic trends, competition, and local dynamics.
Future Loss of Earning Capacity
This assessment predicts and determines any potential future loss of earning capacity post-injury. Future loss of earning capacity is calculated from the trial date until retirement by determining any difference between the pre-injury earning capacity and the post-injury earning capacity.
Potential Vocational Challenges After Injury
CRCs assess a wide range of catastrophic injuries that can significantly impact an individual’s ability to work and earn a living. Here are common types of injury and how they may affect employability and income potential.
Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI)
Potential Impact on Work Ability: Spinal cord injuries can lead to partial or complete paralysis, limiting mobility and the ability to perform physically demanding jobs.
Potential Vocational Challenges: Many individuals may require wheelchair-accessible workplaces, assistive technology, or remote work opportunities.
Potential Financial Impact: A transition to sedentary or desk-based roles may result in reduced earning potential, particularly for those previously engaged in labor-intensive jobs.
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI)
Potential Impact on Work Ability: TBIs can cause mild to severe cognitive impairments, including memory loss, difficulty concentrating, and executive function deficits.
Potential Vocational Adjustments: Individuals may struggle with decision-making, problem-solving, and social interactions, which can limit highly interactive roles or high-pressure positions.
Potential Financial Impact: Some individuals may need to transition to lower-stress jobs with reduced responsibilities, impacting career advancement and income.
Amputations and Loss of Limbs
Potential Impact on Work Ability: The loss of a limb can severely limit a person’s mobility, balance, coordination, and overall strength, limiting everyday tasks as well as physical job duties.
Potential Vocational Adjustments: Workplace accommodations, prosthetic use, and retraining for alternative roles may be required for the individual to return to work.
Potential Financial Impact: If the injured person previously worked in a physically demanding role, a career shift to less physically taxing jobs may diminish income potential and long-term earnings.
Chronic Pain Conditions
Potential Impact on Work Ability: Chronic pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia and nerve damage, can lead to reduced physical endurance, fatigue, and difficulty maintaining a consistent work schedule.
Potential Vocational Adjustments: Individuals suffering from these chronic pain conditions may require flexible work hours, telecommuting options, or ergonomic accommodations to manage symptoms.
Potential Financial Impact: Due to frequent time off or work limitations, individuals may experience a decline in wages or struggle with job retention.
Neurological Disorders
Potential Impact on Work Ability: These progressive conditions, such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease, can cause muscle weakness, tremors, cognitive decline, and mobility impairments that impact a person’s quality of life.
Potential Vocational Adjustments: Career adjustments may be necessary as symptoms worsen, requiring job retraining or workplace modifications.
Potential Financial Impact: The unpredictability of symptom progression can lead to reduced work hours, job loss, or early retirement, significantly affecting lifetime earnings.
Vocational Assessments in Injury Litigation
Vocational assessments and the expert witness testimony of CRCs play a critical role in litigation, helping attorneys establish a more accurate picture of long-term damages. Whether in personal injury, workers' compensation, or disability claims, these assessments and expert testimony provide comprehensive data and recommendations that inform cases and support fair resolutions.
A Valuable Tool for Both Plaintiff and Defense Cases
Plaintiff Attorneys
Plaintiff attorneys rely on vocational assessments to quantify the long-term economic impact of their client's injury. Certified Rehabilitation Counselor John Maier, MA, CRC, CCM, CLCP, CVE, notes that collaborating with a CRC facilitates a thorough and well-supported vocational assessment for litigation:
“CRC certification is the gold standard in rehabilitation. A CRC is a professional, graduate-level counselor who has demonstrated the breadth and depth of knowledge necessary to serve individuals with disabilities across a wide range of conditions. This expertise, combined with a consistent methodology, results in strong, objective, and reliable opinions.”
By leveraging this expertise, plaintiff attorneys can effectively substantiate claims for lost earning capacity and long-term vocational limitations.
Defense Attorneys
Defense attorneys use vocational assessments to scrutinize claims of catastrophic injury and injury-related disability, ensuring that a plaintiff’s compensation requests align with realistic employment prospects and earning potential. As expert John Maier explains:
“As CRCs, we assess whether the plaintiff’s vocational evaluation follows a peer-accepted methodology and accounts for key factors, including individual-specific capabilities, labor market conditions, and transferable skills. We identify gaps in the plaintiff’s assessment and provide a thorough analysis of both pre- and post-incident vocational outcomes.”
By conducting these critical evaluations, defense attorneys can challenge inflated claims and ensure that damages reflect objective, evidence-based conclusions.
Vocational Expertise When It Matters Most
Certified Rehabilitation Counselors and the vocational assessments they develop play a critical role in both plaintiff and defense cases, offering objective recommendations and testimony that help attorneys navigate complex litigation. By evaluating pre- and post-injury earning capacity, transferable skills, and labor market conditions, CRCs provide credible, well-supported insights that strengthen legal strategies and facilitate fair compensation.
For anyone in need of a vocational assessment or seeking answers to their questions, please connect with us at IMSLegal.com or call 866-751-6680.
In November 2024, IMS Legal Strategies welcomed the respected firm MacKenzie Life Care Planning, expanding our advisory services to support attorneys and healthcare providers seeking reliable life care plans and expert rebuttals for matters involving significant injuries.
