Life Care Plans for Foreign Individuals

As an attorney, you work hard to represent your clients to the best of your ability. You may represent the plaintiff or the defendant in cases involving personal injury in which your client suffered catastrophic disabling injuries. 

The issue of obtaining the proper financial compensation for your client may be compounded if your client lives outside the United States. In cases such as these, you will need assistance in getting expert advice from specially trained rehabilitation consultants known as “life care planners.”  

Our life care planning experts understand your client’s injuries, we understand personal injury damages, and we have the expertise in the damages and losses that can occur to your client. 

What Are Life Care Planners?

Just as the name implies, a life care planner will create a life care plan for your client. This plan will include a detailed description of all your client’s injuries and special damages your client suffered, what disablement may be anticipated in the future, and the future and present monetary costs associated with your client’s care. 

When formulating a life plan, our experts will deal in real dollar figures, and not just make a guess. This will allow the jury in your client’s case to understand exactly what your client’s needs are now, and well into the future. 

As a result, a life care planner can make your job easier because it strengthens your case and enhances the settlement figures regarding your client’s future needs. 

The need for life care planners is quickly becoming an emerging field of expertise. In the past, as an attorney, you may have consulted underwriters. However, underwriters can only give an opinion based upon similar or past cases. This means that the needs of your individual’s specific needs were often being overlooked. 

How Does A Life Care Planner Arrive at the Proper Monetary Amount That Your Client Needs?

Our life care planners use specific software, in a distinct format, to analyze and outline the needs of your individual client.

The life plan for your client may include, but is not limited to:

1. Architectural Modifications to Client’s Home

2. Assistive Technology

3. Attendant Requirements

4. Drug and Medical Supply Needs

5. Educational Needs

6. Home or Residential Care

7. Independent Functioning Aids

8. Mobility Requirements

9. Occupational Needs

10. Projected Evaluations

11. Projected Therapeutic Modalities

12. Psychiatric Needs

13. Recreational Needs

14. Transportation Requirements

Simply put, the life planner, based on current and up-to-date knowledge, will itemize everything your disabled client may need during their lifetime and devise a plan that is specific to the individual’s needs. 

Additionally, a life care planner will look at a work capacity assessment. This is important because it determines your client’s employability and in turn becomes the foundation of your client’s vocational assessment. 

How Are the Costs Determined?

Establishing the proper costs is a two-step process.  

The first step involves a monetary amount that will compensate the disabled individual for their actual loss and include all foreseeable expenses determined in current dollars. 

Secondly, an economic damage evaluation will be completed to determine the present and future value of your client’s damages. In this process, future cost increases are easily seen, met, and understood. 

What if the Disabled Individual is a Foreign Individual?

If your client is a foreign individual, our life planners will consult with experts in their home country to determine the real cost of their present and future damages. 

If your plaintiff is a United States citizen or a foreign individual, obtaining a life care plan for your client will strengthen your case by giving you a realistic settlement amount.  

Additionally, our accredited life care planning experts can testify in court as an expert witness, or work with you as a consultant to assist you in formulating your strongest argument. 

If you are representing the defendant, a life care planner can advise you on what records to request and the proper reports to use to rebut a plaintiff’s case. A life care planner could also testify as an expert witness who can dispute the need for some of the items and services requested, and the demand for unnecessarily high settlements.