The Finer Points Of A Vocational Witness

By Melissa McDonald


For the majority of its existence, human beings were nomadic hunter gatherers. This means that they moved from place to place, searching for food and other resources. This also means that they had no concept of money. Of course, humanity eventually settled down into agricultural settlements and while they still had no concept of money, they did begin to formulate the concept of personal ownership. So, when exchanging goods and services, they did so under a barter system. But society evolved as it is wont to do, and then humans came up with money in order to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. It used to be that money was backed by gold, hence the term gold standard. Over time, society evolved and money stopped being representative of a resource and became a resource unto itself, possibly the most important considering how deeply woven it is into the fabric of modern society. The pursuit of money is the reason that people go to work, other than professional fulfillment. But, sometimes a person may be prevented from working, and they may often be subject to the testimony of a vocational Utah witness.

The world can be a cruel, unfair place. Bad things can happen to good people. When these bad things happen, a person may be left with scars. Sometimes these scars are physical, and may halt a person from being able to execute tasks which were once second nature to them. Other times, they can be mental, but no less detrimental, because mental triggers can be a serious impairment when trying to do, well, anything.

A vocational witness is an expert in vocational rehabilitation. Vocational rehabilitation is a field of study in which people with an impairment of some sort can be given a hand in finding work. There are many techniques used in the trade.

In the event that a person become afflicted with a disability, they may be unable to do their regular jobs. Now, when in court to settle civil litigation, an expert witness will be called on to put a number to everything. This means that they will calculate how much money a claimant might be able to earn in the future, the earnings that they have already lost, as well as how much more time it takes to do mundane tasks like household chores, time that could have been spent at other pursuits.

This is slightly different in family law. When two spouses divorce, there may be an alimony payment involved. A witness is called in to evaluate whether or not one spouse has made a satisfactory effort to find a job, as well as their employment prospects and earning capacity. Their testimony may also affect the amount to be paid in alimony.

In both disability and family cases, a vocational expert is called upon in order to put a number on how employable an individual is. They are necessary in order for a court to be as objective as possible. People lie. But numbers do not.

Typically speaking, there are two classifications of witnesses. A consultant and an expert. A consultant does not testify in a court. An expert however, may have to take the stand. To qualify as an proficient in the field, one must be college educated. Not just that, but they must also posses a graduate degree in either counseling or psychology.

Find one online. There are many of them advertising their abilities. Alternately, a lawyer may be familiar with one or two.

People need work to get money. But the world may not be fair. There are people who try to make it so.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment