When a person suffers an injury, he/she may not be able to resume his/her previous employment. In some personal injury cases, the injured party may miss time from work, and may have to accept a different job that pays less than his/her pre-injury job. In some cases he/she may be permanently unable to return to work in any capacity. In many personal injury cases the Plaintiff’s loss of earnings capacity is a large portion of the “hard” economic damages. It is important for the plaintiff and the defendant to have an accurate analysis of the Plaintiff’s pre-injury earning capacity and his/her residual earning capacity.
Vocational evaluator, Kacy Turner, will discuss how she uses testing, interviews and employment records to determine a Plaintiff’s vocational abilities post-injury. Dr. Ron Luke will explain how to use the results of a vocational evaluation combined with data on the Plaintiff’s past earnings to calculate his/her loss of earning capacity. Dr. Luke will also explain how the same concepts apply in a wrongful death case.