Legal Forensic Assessment Services

There is increasing demand for vocational rehabilitation professionals to provide expert witness testimony and consultative services to the courts for a variety of reasons, including:

• personal injury
• product liability
• Worker’s Compensation
• employment law
• catastrophic injury
• professional malpractice
• divorce
• wrongful death of an adult or child

After an injury or illness, an Employability Assessment can determine a client’s potential to remain at, recover in, or return to the workforce. This professional service (provided to the legal, insurance and business communities), includes a comprehensive, individualized assessment to assist the client in both determining and maximizing their vocational potential.

Each case is unique and therefore requires selective testing and interventions appropriate to the client’s level of education, training, work history, transferable skills, medical condition and functional capacity.

These assessments objectively determine vocational barriers, residual employability and earnings potential following injury or illness. This approach offers a comprehensive, clinical, and unbiased assessment that accurately determines the client’s vocational profile and potential. Training requirements, wage levels and labour market information may be included in the report which also includes a summary of employment feasibility issues.

Depending on the complexity of the case, an objective report may be prepared without the individual attending our office for a formal assessment.

In personal injury litigation, worksite accidents, or medical malpractice cases, our vocational experts can provide both plaintiff and defence legal counsel with facts and opinions to assist in achieving equitable settlements related to a client’s earning potential.

Our expert assessments consider all factors, including vocational disability, residual employability, loss of earnings and loss of opportunity, when determining earning/vocational capacity and imputing income.

This assessment includes, but is not limited to, a review of the client’s:

• work history
• education level
• training
• potential for advancement within their area(s) of expertise
• employment opportunities
• potential for self-employment
• capacity for retraining based on academic aptitude
• capacity for full or part-time employment
• regional labour market
• health factors that can affect employment

Assessments are designed to determine the highest possible income a client can earn given their current (post-disability) status. Conclusions are well-researched, realistic and specific to the client’s regional labour market.

We understand that there can be devastating impairment and life-long implications for individuals with catastrophic and chronic pain injuries. A Life Care Plan (also called a Future Care Cost Analysis) identifies the relevant current and future costs associated with an individual’s injury or illness. It is a dynamic document, based on published standards of practice, comprehensive assessment, data analysis and research. The report provides an individualized, concise plan for current and future needs and associated costs, taking into account any probable injury-related changes that may occur in future.

An individualized and effective Life Care Plan requires:

• a file review with attention to detail
• interviews with the client and family
• meeting/communications with the primary care physician
• meeting or telephone consultation with other treatment provider stakeholders
• research into future potential complications and expectations
• research into and analysis of the costs associated with the client’s needs and functional goals
• creation of a comprehensive written report and a user-friendly table outlining probable costs associated with current and future rehabilitation needs

Life Care Plans/Future Care Cost Analysis can guide the injured individual, their family and their case manager through an effective process to improve the individual’s rehabilitation and quality of life. It can also assist a personal injury lawyer or defence lawyer when negotiating a settlement. Most importantly, it can inform and support all engaged stakeholders, in establishing a plan of action that decreases or eliminates the risk and severity of future complications from the impairments.

Metrics Vocational is committed to quality assurance and ensures that each report meets or exceeds industry standards, containing opinions and conclusions that are impartial, objective, and defensible, standing up to the scrutiny of arbitration and litigation.

Metrics Vocational Reports:

• are dynamic and can be updated as the individual ages and/or progresses through their rehabilitation
• render an expert opinion regarding the probability of employment at the client’s own occupation, or failing that, at an alternate occupation on a balance of probabilities basis
• include the potential for retraining
• can be used:
  1. for proactive rehabilitation planning
  2. to set aside insurance reserves
  3. to project anticipated medical costs for legal settlement
  4. to reconcile test results with opinions in the medical record

Due to their expertise, our vocational professionals can evaluate the accuracy and strength of medical-vocational legal reports, Work Capacity assessments, Cost of Future Care assessments, and other vocational assessments authored by other organizations. This service involves analysing the report and supporting documentation, testing protocol, interpretation of results, consistency of findings, and outlining whether the conclusions or recommendations are reasonable, feasible and available.

Assistance can also be provided for cross-examination of another expert witness.