How To Enhance the Proofs In Your Case with Life Care Planning Services

Attorneys who practice personal injury law, family law, employment law, disability law, or any number of practice areas in which you need to prove and quantify your client’s quality of life and/or employability, then you need to secure the assistance of a life care planning expert.

In this article, we will discuss some of the common questions we get regarding the  life care planning services for attorneys  that we provide. If, after reviewing this article you have additional questions or need life care planning services as an attorney we invite you to contact us at Occupational Assessment Services, Inc. – OAS. 

We are one of the most experienced employability and life care planning firms in the United States. To discuss your case, call us at 1-800-292-1919 , contact us at a location near you, or through  our online form .

In cases in which a person has sustained catastrophic injuries, a life care plan is a report that comprehensively and objectively documents the damages the victim has suffered.  

Importantly, a life care plan evaluation is not only for plaintiff-side attorneys. A defense attorney would also be wise to get the help of a life care planning expert so that you can refute the kinds of damages claims that a plaintiff is making. 

Typically, a life care plan for your client would have six sections to it. Those sections are as follows:

1. Document review;
2. Home visit results;
3. Interview results;
4. An impact assessment – demonstrating the impact an injury has on your client’s ability to conduct daily activities;
5. An objective report regarding the injured person’s needs moving forward; and
6. Market research as to the cost of necessary items, medical or otherwise, in the relevant geographic area.

In addition, the exhaustive review in creating the Life Care Plan will allow the  life care planner  to testify as an expert at trial with regard to the damages question.

Attorneys most often use OAS’s life care planning services when a person’s injuries are so serious that they will impact, perhaps indefinitely, the injured person’s ability to perform daily life activities. Whether is a person’s need to use a wheelchair or other assistance to get around, or whether a person needs home care assistance, a life care plan is necessary.

Most commonly, life care plans are placed into evidence in the following types of cases:

1. Personal injury;
2. Slip and fall;
3. Car accidents;
4. Workplace accidents & disability;
5. Medical malpractice; and
6. Premises liability.

While any injury that severely impacts a person’s ability to carry on the activities of daily living should have a life care plan as part of the evidence at trial, the types of injuries that OAS normally sees in connection with a life care plan include:

1. Brain injuries;
2. Spinal cord injuries;
3. Paraplegia and quadriplegia;
4. Cerebral palsy;
5. Amputations;
6. Massive hearing or sight loss;
7. Back and neck injuries;
8. Chronic pain syndrome; and
9. Psychological trauma.

A life care planner will be able to outline precisely how to provide you, as the attorney, with a life care plan. The tools that the life care planner needs to start are hospital discharge records, medical bills, doctor’s reports, work records, wage information, and tax return statements.

With that information, the life care planner will be able to begin his or her research of your client. The more information you can provide about your client to the life care planner, the better the final product will be – which inures to the benefit of your client.

A life care plan is a fairly involved document that strives to be as comprehensive about a client’s life as possible. Accordingly, you should normally expect to wait about four to six weeks to obtain a life care plan. The initial evaluation interview of your client could take approximately three hours. Following that, the life care planner needs to do about 30 to 50 hours of research. Thus, a month or month and a half is a good estimate for the life care plan from start to finish.

Some life care planners, such as OAS, are able to accommodate attorneys who need a report more quickly. OAS has been able to rush a life care plan to ensure that it was complete in one week.  

The life care planner experts at Occupational Assessment Services, Inc. (OAS) have over forty years of experience providing life care planning services for attorneys and documenting the income potential and employment capacity of underemployed, unemployed, and disabled spouses in many types of cases

OAS specializes in working with the plaintiff or defense attorney to assist in objectively documenting the economics in a case. From the initial referral to the trial testimony, OAS works with the retaining attorney so that the  vocational assessment  of the case can be objectively and efficiently presented. 

We strongly believe in the importance of a clear and understandable presentation of the facts. OAS is the leading provider of  Vocational Expert  and Life Care Planning Services for Plaintiff and Defense attorneys. 

The company specializes in assisting attorneys in  evaluating earning capacity in divorce cases , and  documenting the damages in cases  where an individual has been severely injured by providing objective findings on how the injuries affect a persons’ ability to work and earn money, as well as the cost of care required in catastrophic injuries.

OAS is your Vocational Expert & Life Care Planner Nationwide, with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Nevada, and California.  

Occupational Assessment Services, Inc. is one of the most experienced employability and life care planning firms in the United States. To discuss your case, call us at   1-800-292-1919 , contact us at a location near you, or through  our online form .