Workers Comp Expert Witness – A Niche’ ?
Being a Workers Comp expert witness over the years has taught me many very interesting experiences. I thought I would cover a few of those which provided a lesson.
Memorization
One cannot lull themselves into thinking that you can memorize the WC statute, rules, Rating Bureau information and other information. The path to driving yourself crazy is to try to memorize all of it. There just no way to store all that information and be a successful workers comp expert witness.
Each State Unto Itself
Each state has established its own very unique set of rules. If one wants to see how independent each state is from each other, just pull up their workers compensation statutes, rules, etc. No two states are alike in all aspects. There are similarities between states but I have yet to see carbon copies.
Rating Bureaus
The NCCI and WCIRB are the two most popular rating bureaus. As with the general WC regulations, there are similarities between each state rated by NCCI. Believe it or not, there are also similarities to the WCIRB ratings and NCCI. NCCI has to check with each state to make sure that any NCCI rules are accepted by the state.
There are some examples in the press of where states have actually rejected NCCI’s ratings. Without the differences between each state, the NCCI rating information and rules would be much smaller.
Multifaceted
Being a Workers Comp expert witness is a multifaceted endeavor. There are many areas that can be considered a niche’ such as:
- Agency
- Policy
- Claims Handling
- Ratings
- Premium Audits
- Self Insurance
- Many others
The list can be very lengthy.
The Key
One of the main keys to me in workers comp expert witness is how you dress and act overall. Attorneys assess how you will look to a judge and jury just as much as your knowledge base during a deposition or in any written report. Acting and writing professionally at all times can never be seen as a negative trait.
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