An
employment consultant is an
expert witnessAn expert witness or professional witness is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially rely upon the witness's specialized opinion about an...
who advises courts and tribunals on employment related issues such as earnings, labour market analysis, residual earning capacity, and retraining. The main area involved is that of personal injury litigation, but employment consultants also deal with sex, race and
disability discriminationThe Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport. It is a civil rights law...
cases. Increasingly, pay parity is a growth area.
Usually
solicitorSolicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts , with some exceptions. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers, and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s will use an employment report to quantify the loss of earnings or
Smith v. Manchester awards.
An employment consultant, like other experts witnesses, may be instructed by the solicitors for the claimant, the defendant, or as a jointly instructed expert, and may be required to give evidence under oath at trials and tribunal hearings.
Although employment consultants provide reports for many jurisdictions
world-wide, the core areas are the countries using the
common lawCommon law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law....
system.
An
employment consultant is an
expert witnessAn expert witness or professional witness is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially rely upon the witness's specialized opinion about an...
who advises courts and tribunals on employment related issues such as earnings, labour market analysis, residual earning capacity, and retraining. The main area involved is that of personal injury litigation, but employment consultants also deal with sex, race and
disability discriminationThe Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which makes it unlawful to discriminate against people in respect of their disabilities in relation to employment, the provision of goods and services, education and transport. It is a civil rights law...
cases. Increasingly, pay parity is a growth area.
Usually
solicitorSolicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts , with some exceptions. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers, and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s will use an employment report to quantify the loss of earnings or
Smith v. Manchester awards.
An employment consultant, like other experts witnesses, may be instructed by the solicitors for the claimant, the defendant, or as a jointly instructed expert, and may be required to give evidence under oath at trials and tribunal hearings.
Although employment consultants provide reports for many jurisdictions
world-wide, the core areas are the countries using the
common lawCommon law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals , rather than through legislative statutes or executive action, and to corresponding legal systems that rely on precedential case law....
system. Because of its different trail and compensation system for personal injury, the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
is less important than might be expected, and the main jurisdictions for which these experts prepare reports are
England and WalesEnglish law is the legal system of England and Wales, and is the basis of common law legal systems used in most Commonwealth countriesand the United States...
,
ScotlandScots law is a unique legal system with an ancient basis in Roman law. Grounded in uncodified civil law dating back to the Corpus Juris Civilis, it also features elements of common law with medieval sources...
,
Republic of IrelandIreland is a country in north-western Europe. The modern sovereign state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned on 3 May 1921. It is a parliamentary democracy and a republic...
and
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
. Most employment experts are based in the UK.
This type of expertise was a growth area from the mid-1980s to the end of the 1990s, but was adversely affected by changes in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
, the most important area. These included the withdrawal of
legal aidMost liberal democracies consider that it is necessary to provide some level of legal aid to persons otherwise unable to afford legal representation. To fail to do so would deprive such persons of access to the court system. Alternately, they would be at a disadvantage in situations in which the...
for most personal injury cases, which meant that lawyers operating on a "
no win no fee"No Win No Fee" is the term used to describe the Conditional Fee Agreement between a law firm and their client. In a Personal Injury claim, this is an agreement between the client and their lawyer, which will enable the lawyer to take on a personal injury case on the understanding that if they...
" basis were less likely to take up claims or incur the additional costs.
The
Civil Procedure Rules 1998The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil cases in England and Wales...
also meant that the need for an
expert reportAn expert report is a study written by one or more experts that states findings and offers opinions.In law, expert reports are generated by expert witnesses offering their opinions on points of controversy in a legal case, and are typically sponsored by one side or the other in a litigation in...
had to be sanctioned by a
District JudgeDistrict Judge may refer to*A member of the Judiciary of England and Wales*A United States federal judge...
, which, together with the introduction of joint instruction also reduced demand.
In the decade since the CPR, many practitioners have left the field, and the surviving employment experts have frequently diversified into associated areas, such as case management, rehabilitation, and, increasingly, pay parity cases, following the wave of such cases initiated in the mid 2000s by
trade unionA trade union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas, such as working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labor contracts with employers...
s and the controversial solicitor, Stefan Cross.
A recent (2007) case of importance to employment consultants and personal injury
solicitorSolicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter apart from conducting proceedings in courts , with some exceptions. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers, and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
s is
Van Wees v Karkour and WalshVanWees v Karkour and Walsh [ EWHC 165 ] was an English law case of importance because of its implications in the assessment of damages...
. This dealt with the medical aspects of post-traumatic amnesia, but also clarified the financial impact of mild head injury even on those who remain capable of high level work. The judge in the case also made an important ruling that awards to women should
not be based on their current lower earnings compared to men in the same occupation, since that would perpetuate inequality in the face of
equal pay legislationThe Equal Pay Act 1970 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament which prohibits any less favourable treatment between men and women in terms of pay and conditions of employment. It came into force on 29 December 1975. The term pay is interpreted in a broad sense to include, on top of wages,...
.
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