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Vocational Economics is recognized for its expertise in determining loss of earnings in cases of permanent, partial disability. The articles listed below describe the methodology we employ. For more information on Vocational Economics' expert testimony services, click here.
Attorneys and courts across the country may be undervaluing wrongful injury cases that result in disability. This is occurring through the inappropriate use of worklife expectancy statistics for people who meet the definition of occupational disability.
If a plaintiff is limited in some way as a result of a prior injury at the time of the accident, the effects of both must be considered when future lost earnings are projected. If that is not done, the future loss may be significantly overvalued. Assessing the Vocational and Economic Consequences of Minor Head Injury Approximately 67% of all head injuries are classified as minor. Yet what appears to be a mere bump on the head continues to result in the most overlooked and costly of injuries.
The total amount of money people can reasonably and fairly be expected to earn over a lifetime is their vocational economic capacity. This article explores measurement of that capacity on both a pre-injury and a post-injury basis.
It is often assumed that a personal injury client who has returned to work, perhaps receiving the same or even better compensation, has suffered no lifetime loss of earning capacity. That perception can be true or false, depending on the nature and extent, if any, of permanent work difficulties sustained by that person. Combining the Vocational Expert and the Economic Analyst-An Emerging Profession In preparing personal injury matters for litigation, attorneys will frequently rely on the assistance of vocational and economic expert witnesses. In order to determine accurately the effect of the injury on future wage earning ability, it is important that the experts work together to produce a cohesive and defensible analysis.
Analyzing the effect of disability on capacity to perform work and earn money can take different forms. The article discusses the pros and cons of some of these methods and the importance of using disability statistics to produce a more accurate analysis of lifetime loss of earnings. Disability and Lost Earnings: Implications of New Data The effects of partial disability on earnings power are more difficult to estimate than those losses resulting from total disability or death. Decreased annual earnings and decreased worklife expectancy must both be examined to evaluate the plaintiff's total lost earnings.
Whenever personal injury results in disability, economic damages exist. The measurable economic damage takes the form of reduced lifetime earning capacity. Interview: Lawyers Undervalue Plaintiffs' Loss of 'Ability to Work' A.M. Gamboa Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Vocational Economics, Inc., spoke with Lawyers Weekly USA's Elaine McArdle about valuing damages related to occupational disability. Use of Vocational and Economic Experts in a Serious Construction Site Accident Case Deterioration of both earning capacity and worklife expectancy is discussed in this exploration of injuries from construction site accidents.
Future earning capacity is determined by the type of injury and the victim's age, education, work experience, and intelligence. Lawyers must look at factors like pre-impairment wages in combination with age and wages of workers with comparable intelligence, education, and skills to determine the client's capacity to work and earn money. What the Infant or Child Could Have Been When the future earning capacity of a child or infant is diminished or destroyed, a plaintiff's lawyer faces a number of challenges in establishing proof of damages. New technology that permits assessment based on individual vocational characteristics of the deceased or disabled child has simplified the task. Last Modified: Tuesday March 21, 2006 10:56 AM |
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