Psycho-Legal Consulting

Providing assessments of loss of earnings and/or employment and earning potential through expert evaluations, insights, and research, ensures that various factors affecting these are accurately considered in legal cases for fair and informed decisions.

As one of the foremost psycho-legal experts in South Africa, we assess the impact of personal injuries sustained due to, for example, motor vehicle accidents, accidents in public spaces or workplaces, and medical negligence.

What Human Interaction can help with

Assessments can also relate to loss of support due to a divorce or as a consequence of the demise of a breadwinner in an accident.

We collaborate with other professionals, such as Neurologists, Neurosurgeons, Ophthalmologists, Orthopaedic Surgeons, Biokineticists, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, and Clinical and Educational Psychologists.

We then express an opinion regarding the individual's past, present and/or future loss of earnings and employability, or loss of financial support.

What you can expect from and during an assesment

During a semi-structured interview, we obtain relevant information regarding the injured party's history and current situation, which we incorporate into our reports. We apply a typical 'but for' and 'having regard to' an incident approach to determine the career and income potential (or support) if the incident/injury had not occurred versus the scenario in which the incident/injury occurred.

Factors are taken into account to determine an individual's potential career trajectory and earning capacity and income in both the 'but for' and 'having regard to' scenarios, including the individual's:

Socio-economic circumstances
Level of education and qualifications obtained Medical history
Employment history
Work experience and skill set
Industry trends
The South African economy
Opinions and findings of other experts
Results of psychometric test results (where applicable)

We are also mindful of collateral information that we obtain from, e.g., past and present employers, and we peruse relevant employment and earning documents when considering the effect of the incident/injury.

What happens after the assesment

Upon finalising our comprehensive reports, we submit them to the referring attorneys in PDF format for legal proceedings. If requested, we will prepare a joint minute with our counterpart to narrow down issues in dispute.

As employment and earnings experts, we sometimes must express objective and evidence-based opinions in court in medico-legal matters regarding individuals' earning capacity and the impact of the incident/injury on their ability to work. Our testimony assists in making legal decisions regarding fair compensation for loss of earnings or support

FAQs

Psycho-legal work is a specialised field that combines psychology and law. It involves psychologists providing expert evaluations, assessments, and testimony in legal cases to help courts understand aspects of their individual fields of expertise in relation to the specific circumstances of a case.
Psycho-legal assessments are needed in various matters, including criminal cases, child custody disputes, personal injury claims, divorce matters, disability evaluations, immigration cases, domestic violence cases, and juvenile justice cases.
At Human Interaction, we focus on the loss of employment and/or earnings as a result of personal injuries, loss of support because of a divorce or the demise of a breadwinner in an accident.
Our psycho-legal assessments involve a comprehensive evaluation by an industrial psychologist to determine the sequelae of an event resulting in the loss of income or employment relevant to a legal case. This includes conducting interviews, administering psychological tests, reviewing relevant documents, obtaining collateral information, and doing research regarding employment opportunities and earnings.
Psycho-legal assessments are conducted by psychologists registered with the HPCSA, who have specialised training in psychology and experience in the legal system.

The duration of a psycho-legal assessment varies depending on the complexity of the case. Our assessments generally take around two to three hours.
Yes, psycho-legal assessments are often used as evidence in court. Psychologists may also provide expert testimony based on their assessments, findings and opinions expressed in their reports to assist the court in making informed decisions.
Information in psycho-legal reports is not confidential as this is used as evidence in a court of law. Therefore, clients must give their consent at the onset of an assessment that their information would be made available to all relevant parties.
Psycho-legal evaluations must be initiated by the client's appointed attorney, who would then schedule an appointment with us to conduct the evaluation. They could contact us by telephone, email, or booking an appointment online.