Learn how a vocational expert can increase your chances of success. When an ex-spouse challenges alimony payments as too extreme, how do you verify the claim? When someone is in an accident, how can you tell if the person will be able to earn a similar income, or if that person is attempting to cheat the system? Qualified vocational experts are helpful in cases involving wage claims. They can review career development potential, earning capacity before the event in question, and technical questions related to transferable skills, reasonable mitigation by the subject, and actual damages sustained as well as secondary gain. In Assessment of Earning Capacity, you will learn how a vocational expert can help you with these kinds of questions and more. Earning capacity assessments determine the maximum amount of employment income an individual can earn, given his or her vocational profile, workplace conditions, and other factors. The process may involve reviewing records to determine demonstrated and potential capabilities, interviewing the claimant, administering standardized tests to the claimant, and conducting labor market research. Learn how your vocational expert can use this information, as well as review opposing experts" reports and provide ways of discrediting the opposing expert"s opinion while enhancing his own. Establishing earning capacity is more complex in some cases than others. For example, when a long-term employee is terminated, one must analyze the length of time to find new employment, his or her earning capacity, and the difference between pretermination earning capacity and future earning capacity. For a teenager with a disability, premorbid earning capacity is likely to be questioned. In injury cases in which physical or psychological problems prevent a person from returning to his or her prior work, the expert examines that person"s remaining skills and ability to pursue alternate employment. Assessment of Earning Capacity contains many examples to help you understand your expert"s job.