Q: What is lost earning capacity?

A: Lost earning capacity is when a person is injured and they are no longer able to earn the same kind of money they made prior to their injury.  For example, a skilled carpenter makes on average between $25 - $30 an hour.  Now, because of their injury they have permanent back problems and they cannot do the work they did prior to their injury.  As their attorney, we would send them to a vocational specialist who can measure their lost earning capacity.  The specialist may determine the injured worker has lost 1/3 of their earning capacity.  This can be a result of hiring an extra worker to do the heavy work.  While the injured worker made $30 an hour before the injury, they can only make $20 an hour after the injury.  With the help of an economist we would measure what that loss amounts to over the work-life of the worker and then we would come up with an amount that would represent the loss of earning capacity.