Dr. Elena Ruiz, PhD, CRC
Vocational rehabilitation, earning-capacity, and life care planning for trial counsel.
About
Dr. Elena Ruiz is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and life care planner with two decades of experience translating medical and vocational evidence into defensible expert opinions. She has been retained in plaintiff and defense matters across California, Nevada, and Arizona, with a practice concentrated on catastrophic personal injury, wrongful termination, and disability accommodation disputes. Dr. Ruiz writes and teaches regularly on the intersection of vocational theory and modern labor markets.
Areas of practice
Vocational rehabilitation
Evaluation of post-injury work capacity, transferable skills, and labor-market alternatives — calibrated to the jurisdiction's evidentiary standards.
Life care planning
Long-horizon care-needs forecasts grounded in the medical record, peer-reviewed methodology, and current Medicare/private-pay cost data.
Earning-capacity analysis
Pre- and post-incident earnings trajectories with explicit assumptions, sensitivity tables, and present-value framing.
Employability analysis
Reasoned opinions on alternative employment availability — drawing on Department of Labor data and direct labor-market contacts.
Credentials
- Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) — CRCC (2008)
- Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) — ICHCC (2011)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) — State of California (2007)
Sectors of experience.
Education
- PhD, Rehabilitation Counselor EducationMichigan State University · 2007
- MS, Rehabilitation CounselingSan Diego State University · 2001
- BA, PsychologyUC Santa Barbara · 1999
Selected publications
- Earning-Capacity Analysis After Catastrophic Injury: A Framework for Trial Counsel, Journal of Forensic Vocational Analysis (2023)
- Remote Work and Modern Labor-Market Surveys, Rehabilitation Professional (2022)
- Life Care Plans in the Era of Bundled-Payment Health Care, The Rehabilitation Professional (2021)
- Vocational Evaluation of Traumatic Brain Injury: A Practitioner's Guide, Aspen Professional Services (2019)
Selected matters
Catastrophic spinal-cord injury — life care plan and earning capacity
Bench-tried; methodology adopted in damages findings.
Wrongful termination — post-termination employability and mitigation
Motion in limine to exclude denied; testimony admitted in full.
ADA accommodation — essential job functions and reasonable alternatives
Settled following report disclosure.
TBI / mTBI — vocational evaluation and labor-market analysis
Plaintiff verdict; expert testimony cited by counsel post-trial.
Family-law earning capacity — bifurcated spousal-support trial
Stipulated facts; methodology adopted by the court.
From retaining counsel.
Attributions are generalized; specific matter details withheld under engagement terms.
Calibrated, calm, and unflappable under cross. Her reports do the explaining the jury needs.
Methodology that survived Daubert without amendments. Materially shaped settlement value.
Exceptional at translating defensible vocational economics for a generalist judge.
Her cross-examination preparation alone was worth the engagement.
Retain Dr. Ruiz
Conflict checks typically clear within 48 hours.