KW Life Care Planning supports both plaintiff and defense counsel. The three narratives below are anonymized composites that show how a plan is grounded, structured, and priced in three common injury contexts. They describe method, not specific cases or outcomes.
Our work is retained by plaintiff attorneys, defense attorneys, and insurance carriers. We do not advocate for either side - our role is to apply the published standards of practice and produce a plan that can be examined item by item. The narratives below are illustrative and contain no client-identifying details; any resemblance to a particular matter is coincidental.
Built to be defensible
Whatever the injury, the plan is held to the same standard - so each item holds up under examination, not just on paper.
Same method, either side. The methodology is identical whether plaintiff or defense commissions the work. A plan that only holds up for the retaining party does not survive cross-examination.
Foundation, frequency, cost. Every item traces to a physician recommendation or published clinical guidance, states its frequency and duration, and carries a documented, geographically matched cost source that can be re-priced later.
Conflict-checked and confidential. Every matter opens with a conflict check. Pre-retention communications are handled confidentially; work-product protection depends on the retention and the forum's rules.
Adult Traumatic Brain Injury
Context
A working-age adult sustained a severe traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle collision. After inpatient rehabilitation the person returned home with persistent deficits in memory, executive function, and behavioral regulation, and a spouse had left the workforce to provide supervision.
Approach
Records review across acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, neuropsychology, and outpatient therapy, followed by an in-home interview and observation of daily routine
Written recommendations obtained from the treating physiatrist and neuropsychologist for follow-up care, therapy courses, medications, and the level of supervision required
Attendant care specified by level (supervision versus hands-on assistance) and by hours across the day, with agency and private-hire rates researched in the person's own market
Cognitive and behavioral supports, case management, and a periodic re-evaluation schedule carried across life expectancy from the published tables, with no adjustment because no physician had opined that expectancy was reduced
What the plan delivered
The plan gave counsel an itemized, sourced schedule in which every attendant care hour traced to a physician statement of need, and it separated injury-related items from a pre-existing orthopedic condition documented in the record. The economist reduced the schedule to present value without needing to re-derive any item.
A young child was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy following a complicated delivery. The child was non-ambulatory, fed partly by gastrostomy, and enrolled in early intervention services. The family lived in a two-story home with no accessible entrance.
Approach
Plan organized by developmental stage: early childhood, school age, adolescence, and adulthood, with items that start, stop, or change at each transition
Pediatric equipment costed on growth-driven replacement cycles, with adult-sized equipment substituted at the appropriate age
Home accessibility assessed and modification costs researched for the current home, with vehicle modification tied to the age at which transport needs change
Attendant care projected at family-provided levels during childhood and at the adult level after the age at which school-based services end, with residential and supported-living options priced as alternatives
What the plan delivered
Because the plan showed the cost consequence of each transition, counsel could explain to the mediator why lifetime care for a child differs from an adult plan scaled for age. The staged structure also gave the defense a clear basis on which to contest specific items rather than the plan as a whole.
Spinal Cord Injury in a Workers' Compensation Settlement
Context
An injured worker in a mid-career trade sustained a complete thoracic spinal cord injury in a workplace fall. The carrier and the worker sought to settle future medical care, and the worker was expected to become Medicare-eligible within the settlement period.
Approach
Full life care plan prepared from the record and an in-person evaluation, covering skin, bladder, and bowel management, wheelchair and seating with replacement schedules, home and vehicle modification, and attendant care
Medicare set-aside allocation derived from the same record review by removing non-covered and unrelated items and re-pricing the remainder on a fee-schedule basis under Medicare's review guidance
Rated age obtained by the settling parties applied to the allocation only; the life care plan carried population life expectancy with a physician-supported note on the condition
Both documents delivered with a reconciliation showing which plan items fed the allocation and which fell outside it
What the plan delivered
The parties had one consistent inventory of future needs to negotiate from, and the allocation was documented for submission. Preparing both from a single review avoided the inconsistencies that arise when the plan and the set-aside are built by different vendors from different records.
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