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Dr. Elena Ruiz, Employability, earning capacity, and life care planning for catastrophic-injury and employment disputes.
Expert Witness

Dr. Elena Ruiz, PhD, CRC

Vocational rehabilitation, earning-capacity, and life care planning for trial counsel.

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Complimentary · 30 min · Under privilege
20+
Years in practice
300+
Reports authored
40+
Depositions / testimony
3 states
CA · NV · AZ
CALIFORNIA
— About
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.

— Practice

Areas of practice

Vocational rehabilitation

Evaluation of post-injury work capacity, transferable skills, and labor-market alternatives — calibrated to the jurisdiction's evidentiary standards.

Transferable skillsLabor-market surveyDaubert

Life care planning

Long-horizon care-needs forecasts grounded in the medical record, peer-reviewed methodology, and current Medicare/private-pay cost data.

Long-horizon careCostingPediatric/adult

Earning-capacity analysis

Pre- and post-incident earnings trajectories with explicit assumptions, sensitivity tables, and present-value framing.

Wage pathSensitivityPresent value

Employability analysis

Reasoned opinions on alternative employment availability — drawing on Department of Labor data and direct labor-market contacts.

O*NETLabor-market contactLocal data

Credentials

  • Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) — CRCC (2008)
  • Certified Life Care Planner (CLCP) — ICHCC (2011)
  • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) — State of California (2007)

Education

  • PhD, Rehabilitation Counselor Education
    Michigan State University · 2007
  • MS, Rehabilitation Counseling
    San Diego State University · 2001
  • BA, Psychology
    UC 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

Selected matters

2024
Catastrophic spinal-cord injury — life care plan and earning capacity
Bench-tried; methodology adopted in damages findings.
Superior Court, Los Angeles County
Catastrophic injury
2024
Wrongful termination — post-termination employability and mitigation
Motion in limine to exclude denied; testimony admitted in full.
U.S. District Court, C.D. Cal.
Employment
2023
ADA accommodation — essential job functions and reasonable alternatives
Settled following report disclosure.
U.S. District Court, D. Nev.
Employment
2023
TBI / mTBI — vocational evaluation and labor-market analysis
Plaintiff verdict; expert testimony cited by counsel post-trial.
Superior Court, Maricopa County
Catastrophic injury
2022
Family-law earning capacity — bifurcated spousal-support trial
Stipulated facts; methodology adopted by the court.
Superior Court, Orange County
Family law
Direct
(562) 555-0142
Office
Long Beach, CA
© 2026 · Dr. Elena Ruiz
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