In serious accident cases, a vocational rehabilitation expert is often required to testify for the Plaintiff to support a future lost wage claim. This sometimes requires a disability rating.
Disability is an occupational concept that predicts a person's ability to sustain employment at the level that would have but for the disability. Vocational disability does not automatically result in future lost wages. If the Plaintiff can no longer be a farmer but can do another job that provides the same earnings, But if there is a loss or decreased ability to earn a living that leads to economic loss, than you have a future loss of earnings that often needs to be defined by a vocational rehabilitation expert.
