Asking vocational experts specific, well-crafted questions can expose weaknesses in their reports and opinions. Here are five key questions to ask your vocational expert or an opposing vocational expert, and what you may learn from their answers.

  1. Did you meet with the injured party (or request to)?

    Meeting with the injured party provides an opportunity to make observations about the person’s physical status, any pain they may have, and accommodations they may need that may not be apparent from record review alone.

  2. What evidence of past education, employment, and earnings have you reviewed?
    For a comprehensive view of past employment and earnings, a vocational expert should look beyond an interview with the plaintiff and request and review documents, such as: 
           -Social Security earnings statements
           -Tax returns with schedules and W2s
           -Personnel files with performance evaluations
           -Secondary and post-secondary transcripts and school records
           -Licenses or certifications

    These documents provide a detailed overview of a person’s education, employment, and earning history. They also affect opinions on pre-injury and post-injury earning capacity.

     

  3. Have there been any gaps in the person’s employment history?

    If there were major gaps in the employment history of an injured person after completing their education, they should be discussed in any reports or testimony. If the gaps indicate the injured party cannot consistently hold a full-time job, this affects pre-injury and post-injury earning capacity. Causes for gaps include previous injuries or illnesses, incarceration, lay-offs due to economic conditions and terminations due to poor performance. Relevant documents include:

     -Criminal justice records
    -Workers’ compensation claims files
    -Social Security Disability Insurance application files

  4. Did you perform a transferable skills analysis and labor market analysis?

    A transferable skills analysis (TSA) considers a person’s pre-injury employment, skills, training and any ongoing work restrictions to determine what jobs a person can perform without additional training. A TSA can identify employment possibilities that otherwise would not have occurred to a vocational expert. The labor market analysis determines if specific jobs are available within a reasonable commuting distance.

     

  5. Which vocational tests did you administer and what retraining or additional education did you consider to increase post-injury earning capacity?

    In combination with information on physical and cognitive impairments, vocational testing provides information on intelligence, aptitudes, and interests pointing to options for post-injury retraining and employment, Alternatively, testing can be evidence of limited or no post-injury earning capacity. There are many vocational tests and it is appropriate to administer those that are relevant. Depending on an injured party’s age and academic attainment, retraining to enter the workforce in a different occupation may be appropriate. If the vocational expert did not administer vocational tests and consider retraining and education, they should be asked to provide a reasonable explanation for not doing so.