Skip to main content

Suppose Hippocrates Had Been a Lawyer: a Conceptual Model of Harm to Litigants; Part 2

Psychological Injury and Law volume 6, pages 228–237 (2013)Cite this article

Abstract

It is well established that environmental factors can have impact upon an injured person’s recovery and return-to-work outcomes. There is substantial evidence supporting the contribution of lawyers and the legal process to poorer outcomes for injured workers. To date, there has been no cohesive model to provide theoretical understanding of the way in which these divergent factors combine to create disability behaviours. The objective of this study was to develop a conceptual model for understanding the development of disability behaviour in a legal context. Interpolation from existing neuroplasticity experimentation and therapeutic practice and observed behaviours and studies of behaviour in the workers’ compensation environment, including existing research concerning predictors for disability. The paper describes a conceptual model for understanding the contributions of lawyers and the legal system to instances of disability that are not necessarily attributable to physical harm. Discussion based upon the conceptual model for a new paradigm of legal practice follows. Factors that contribute to the formation of a neural network supporting the behaviour of learned disability are described. From that description, a shift in the paradigm of legal practice to reduce the unintended impacts upon clients is discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

References

  • Alyward, M. (2012). Transforming models of disability. Presented at the International Forum on Disability Management, London.

  • American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). (2006). Preventing needless work disability by helping people stay employed. Retrieved from http://www.acoem.org/PreventingNeedlessWorkDisability.aspx

  • Aurbach, R. (2011a). The unintended consequences of the dispute resolution system. In C. E. Stout, M. Kruger, & J. Rogers (Eds.), Current perspectives in clinical treatment and management in workers’ compensation cases (pp. 120–144). Sharjah: Bentham Science Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aurbach, R. (2011b). Dispute resolution as a creator of needless disability. AMA Guides Newsletter.

  • Aurbach, R., Vinning, E., Harangozo, C. (2013). The stakeholders speak: Reflections on a national stakeholder engagement initiative. Manuscript submitted for publication.

  • Aylward, M., & Waddell, G. (2005). Health, work, and inactivity: Current context and developing solutions—a UK perspective. European Journal of Public Health, 15, 47. doi:10.1093/eurpub/cki531

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benyahya, R., Fayad, R., Fermanian, F., Lefevre-Colau, J., Poiraudeau, M., Rannou, … Demaille, S. (2004). Chronicity, recurrence, and return to work in low back pain: Common prognostic factors. Annales de Readaptation et de Medecine Physique, 47(4), 179–189.

  • Biddle, J., Boden, L., & Reville, R. (2001). Permanent partial disability from occupational injuries: Earnings losses and replacement in three states. Palo Alto, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bouter, L., Jellema, P., Stalman, W., Van der Horst, H., Van der Windt, D., & Vlaeyen, D. (2006). Predictors of outcome in patients with (sub) acute low back pain differ across treatment groups. Spine, 31(15), 1699–1705.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruns, D., & Disorbio, J. (2009). Assessment of biopsychosocial risk factors for medical treatment: A collaborative approach. Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 16(2), 127–147.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Du Bois, M., & Donceel, P. (2012). Guiding low back claimants to work: A randomized controlled trial. Spine, 37(17), 1425–1431.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbers, N., van Wees, K. A., Akkermanns, A., Cuijpers, P., & Bruinvels, D. (2012). Exploring lawyer-client interaction: A qualitative study of positive lawyer characteristics. Psychological Injury and Law, 5, 89–94.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gallup Reports. (2013). Honesty/ethics in professions. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/1654/honesty-ethics-professions.aspx

  • Guthrie, R. (2009). Preventing further harm to the harmed—towards a therapeutic approach to workers’ compensation. Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, 46(1).

  • Haley, J. (1986). Comment: The implications of apology. Law and Society Review, 20(4), 499–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hay, E., Jellema, P., Main, C., & Van der Windt, D. (2008). Psychosocial interventions for low back pain in primary care: Lessons learned from recent trials. Spine, 33(1), 81–89.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jin, R. L., Shah, C. P., & Svoboda, T. J. (1995). The impact of unemployment on health: A review of the evidence. Canadian Medical Association, 153(5), 529–540.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johoda, M. (1982). Employment and unemployment: A social and psychological approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, S. (2013). Oklahoma governor signs workers’ compensation overhaul. Insurance Journal. Retrieved on May 8, 2013, from http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2013/05/08/291282.htm

  • Keesling, K. (2005). Secrets of a successful marriage: How Minnesota combined imaging technology with ADR strategies to effectively prevent and resolve workers’ compensation disputes. Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, 42(1).

  • Kinicki, A. J., McKee-Ryan, F., Song, Z., & Wanberg, C. R. (2005). Psychological and physical well-being during unemployment: A meta-analytic study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 53–76.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krohm, G. (Ed.). (2012). Reflections on the history and development of workers’ compensation in the United States. Madison, WI: International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lunau, K. (2008). Public respect for doctors up, journalists down: Poll. Maclean’s. Retrieved from http://www2.macleans.ca/2008/05/06/public-respect-for-doctors-up-journalists-down-poll/

  • Main, C. J., Sullivan, M. J., & Watson, P. J. (Eds.). (2007). Pain management: Practical applications of the biopsychosocial perspective in clinical and occupational settings (2nd ed.). Edinburgh, Scotland: Churchill Livingstone.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martikainen, P. T., & Valkonen, T. (1998). The effects of differential unemployment rate increases of occupation groups on changes in mortality. American Journal of Public Health, 88(12), 1859–1861.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathers, C. D., & Schofield, D. J. (1998). The health consequences of unemployment: The evidence. Medical Journal of Australia, 168, 178–182.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McGill, C. M. (1968). Industrial back problems: A control program. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 10(4), 174–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenzie-Ferguson, R. (2012). Observations of an injured workers’ advocate. Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, 49(1).

  • Meyers, J., & Sander, R. (1986). The relationship of disability to compensation status in railroad workers. Spine, 11(2), 141–143.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration. (2012). Annual report, 2010. Albuquerque, NM: New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Administration.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olson, C. (2006). Integrated conflict management systems in workers’ compensation. Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, 46(1).

  • Quarles, L. (2006). Alternative dispute resolution on a shoestring. Journal of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions, 46(2).

  • Relis, T. (2007). It’s not about the money: A theory on misconceptions of Plaintiff’s litigation aims. Pittsburgh Law Review, 68(2). Retrieved from http://ssrn.com/abstract=909522

  • Reville, R. (2001a). An evaluation of New Mexico workers’ compensation permanent partial disability and return to work. Palo Alto, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reville, R. (2001b). The impact of a disabling workplace injury on earnings and labor force participation. Palo Alto, CA: RAND Corporation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, J. M. (2001). The impact of health status on the duration of unemployment spells and the implications for studies of the impact of unemployment on health status. Journal of Health Economics, 20(5), 781–796.

    PubMed  Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stewart, M., & Wood, S. (2012). Civil plaintiffs, trauma and stress in the legal system. In M. Miller & B. Bornstein (Eds.), Stress, trauma and well-being in the legal system (pp. 123–148). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Toye, F., & Barker, K. (2012). ‘I can’t see any reason for stopping doing anything, but I might have to do it differently’–restoring hope to patients with persistent non-specific low back pain—a qualitative study. Disability & Rehabilitation, 34(11), 894–903.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Victor, R., Barth, P., & Neumark, D. (2005). The impact of provider choice on workers’ compensation costs and outcomes. Cambridge, MA: Workers’ Compensation Research Institute & San Francisco , CA: Public Policy Institute of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waddell, G. (2010). Models of sickness and disability applied to common health problems. London: Royal Society of Medicine Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waddell, G., Burton, K., & Aylward, M. (2007). Work and common health problems. Journal of Insurance Medicine, 39(2), 109–120.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Waddell, G., Burton, K., Aylward, M. (2008). A biopsychosocial model of sickness and disability. AMA Guides Newsletter.

  • Wegscheider-Cruse, S. (1989). Another chance: Hope and health for the alcoholic family (2nd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Science and Behavior Books, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yazzi, A. (2013). Testimony before the Navajo Tribal Council, January, 2013.

Statutory and Rules References:

  • Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.5 (C.), American Bar Association, 2004.

  • Section 52-1-51 Physical examinations of worker; independent medical examinations; NMSA 1978

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Uncommon Approach, Inc., 108 Crofton Drive, Williamstown, Melbourne, Victoria, 3016, Australia

    Robert Aurbach

Authors
  1. Robert Aurbach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Aurbach.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Aurbach, R. Suppose Hippocrates Had Been a Lawyer: a Conceptual Model of Harm to Litigants; Part 2. Psychol. Inj. and Law 6, 228–237 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-013-9170-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-013-9170-y

Keywords

  • Neuroplasticity
  • Injury management
  • Legal system