Expert Witness Blog
In Life-Care Planners Can Help Simplify Damages For The Jury, vocational evaluation expert witness and life care planner Ronald T Smolarski writes on to determine what care and how much money a chronically or catastrophically disabled individual will need for the rest of his or her life.
..based on current medical knowledge, the rehabilitation consultant strives to itemize everything the disabled person might need during his or her lifetime and to make the plan specific so the individual’s needs are met. Cost is established using a two-step process. In the first step, a monetary sum that will compensate for actual loss and encompass all foreseeable expenses is determined in current dollars.
In the second step, a rehabilitation consultant qualified in economic damages evaluation determines present and future values of damages. To do this, cost is given in current dollars. Through this process, future cost increases can be more easily seen, understood and met.
For the attorney representing a plaintiff, a life care plan strengthens the argument for a truly realistic settlement sum. A rehabilitation consultant with specialized skills and training, accredited in life care planning, can testify in court as an expert or work as a consultant and assist the attorney in formulating his or her argument.
A life care planner can be of similar value to the defense. In such cases, the life care planner can advise the attorney on records to request and reports to use. The life care planner can also provide expert advice and testimony disputing the need for requested items or services and unnecessarily high settlements. Given the current tendency of some courts to put a cap on settlements, attorneys will probably find the expertise of a life care planner increasingly beneficial.