Vocational Consulting Group, Inc.

Michael Newman

Michael L. Newman, M.S.
Diplomate American Board of Vocational Experts
Vocational Consulting Group, LLC
5062 S. 108th Street, PMB#117
Omaha, Nebraska 68137
Telephone (531) 867-7680 Cell: (402)-509-4724
E-mail: mike.lnewman45@live.com

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

  • Practicing Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor & Job Placement Specialist with 42-years’ experience

  • Vocational Testing and Plan Development

  • Vocational Expert Testimony for Pre- and Post-injury Earning Capacity to determine vocational damages and vocational rehabilitation needs

  • Earning power analyses performed for Personal Injury, Industrial Injury, Long-Term Disability, Social Security Disability, Workers’ Compensation, Medical Malpractice, and Divorce

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2007 – Present Vocational Consulting Group, LLC
Rehabilitation Counselor and Consultants.
4/97 – 12/06 Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company
Rehabilitation Manager LTD
8/92 – 4/97 Quality Solutions Omaha, Nebraska
Rehabilitation Consultant
6/91 – 8/92 Heartland Rehabilitation Services Omaha, Nebraska
Rehabilitation Consultant
8/88 – 6/91 NE Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Facility Director
11/80 – 8/88 Career Design Inc,
Clinical Director, Vocational Evaluation Department
2/79 – 11/80 Eppley-Goodwill/University of Nebraska Medical Center
Vocational Evaluator

EDUCATION

1984-1988 M.S. in Agency Counseling
University of Nebraska Omaha, Nebraska
1976-1978 BA in Sociology
Northwestern College Orange City, IA

INTERNSHIPS

January 1988 – August 1988 University of Nebraska Medical Center
In-Patient Pain Management Program
January 1977- June 1977 Sioux County Social Services Department
Orange City, Iowa
Adult and Child Protective Services

CERTIFICATIONS

Certified Professional Counselor #919 State of Nebraska
Certified Rehabilitation & Job Placement Counselor
Nebraska Workers Compensation Certificate # 164
Diplomate American Board of Vocational Experts Member ID# 2667

COUNSELING LICENSE

Licensed Mental Health Practitioner #1329

PROFFESIONAL PRESENTATIONS

09/10 Predicting Vocational Capacity after a Traumatic Brain Injury-Key Factors
On With Life Ankeny, Iowa Fall Conference
10/08 Effective Vocational Planning Iowa Rehabilitation Association 2008 Fall
Conference Ameristar Council Bluffs, Iowa
09/08 How to build a better LOEP NE IARP’s Fall 2008 Conference Lincoln,
Nebraska
10/01 Ground Zero to IPE
National Rehabilitation Association Iowa Chapter
Ames, Iowa
9/99 Qualities & Expectations of Rehabilitation Providers – A Buyers Perspective
National Rehabilitation Association Iowa Chapter Fall Conference
Marshalltown, Iowa
10/98 Introduction to the O-NET
California NAARPS Annual Conference
Lake Tahoe, California
10/98 Forensic Vocational Analysis of Head Injury Cases-A Case Study
California NAARPS Annual Conference
Lake Tahoe, California
9/98 The ART & SCIENCE of Vocational Assessment
National Rehabilitation Association State of Iowa Chapter Annual Fall Conference
Iowa City, Iowa
4/98 Fundamentals of Vocational Assessment
NAARPS Nebraska Chapter Spring Conference
Omaha, Nebraska
9/97 Features and Benefits of Commercially Developed Computerized DOT Systems
American Board of Vocational Experts Fall Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota
10/96 Why Does it Cost So Much?
Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Symposium Northeast Technical Community College
Norfolk, Nebraska
7/96 Taking Control – A Comparative Cost Analysis Illustration of Returning Injured Workers to the Workplace
Administrative Management Society Summer Conference
Omaha, Nebraska
6/95 Loss of Earning Capacity – What, Why & How for the Industrially Injured Worker
Central States Association, I.A.I.B.C. Summer Conference
Lincoln, Nebraska
3/91 Introduction to Computerized Vocational Software
National NAARPS Spring Conference
Washington, D.C.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

09/18 completed 46 CEU hours to maintain ABVE Board Certification
09/18 IARPP’s Loss of Earning Capacity Seminar Omaha, Nebraska
09/17 On With Life Head Injury Conference Ankeny, Iowa
09/16 On With Life Head Injury Conference Ankeny, Iowa
09/15 On With Life Head Injury Conference Ankeny, Iowa
09/14 On With Life Head Injury Conference Ankeny, Iowa
04/14 ABVE Conference Nashville, TN Annual Conference
03/12 ABVE Spring Conference Las Vegas, NV “Perfect Your Act” Expert Vocational Practice.
09/11 On With Life Head Injury Conference Ankeny, Iowa
03/09 ABVE Spring Conference New Orleans “A Collaboration of Medical, Legal & Vocational Expertise
04/08 American Board of Vocational Experts Spring Conference San Diego, California. Ethics of VE Testimony & Diminished Future Earning Capacity
11/06 ING Roundtable for Group Disability Insurance Minneapolis, MN
10/06 American Board of Vocational Experts Fall Conference Philadelphia, PA
03/06 American Board of Vocational Experts Spring Conference Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
03/05 American Board of Vocational Experts Spring Conference New Orleans, LA
4/01 What is Wrong with This Picture?
American Board of Vocational Experts Spring Conference
Sand Diego, California
5/01 Working Smarter Not Harder
International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals Spring Conference
Miami, Florida
4/01 D2K Riding the Change
National Association of Rehabilitation Professionals in the Private Sector NAARPS Spring Conference
Dallas, Texas

  • Working with the Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999
  • “What Makes an Ethical Decision Ethical?” John Banja, Ph.D.
  • “Abilities of People with Disabilities” Chris Waddell, Paralympian
  • “Keeping Aging Baby Boomers at Work” Bruce Douglas, M.D.
  • LTD Panel:  A Forum for Carriers and Providers
  • “Integrating Vocational Information” Gale Gibson and John Shervey
4/00 American Board of Vocational Experts Spring Conference
Intercontinental Hotel
New Orleans, Louisiana
9/99 Celebrating Diversity
National Rehabilitation Association Iowa Chapter Fall Conference
Des Moines, Iowa
9/99 Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Fall Seminar
Lincoln, Nebraska
10/98 California NAARPS Fall Conference
Squaw Valley Resort
Lake Tahoe, California
9/97 American Board of Vocational Experts Fall Conference
Minneapolis, Minnesota
5/96 The Role of the Case Manager in the Successful Return to Work
Richard Pimental, Senior Partner Milt Wright Associates
Case Management Society of American Nebraska Chapter Spring Conference
Chatsworth, California
10/95 17th Annual Iowa Association of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers, Inc.
Des Moines, Iowa

  • Agency Update Clair R. Cramer, Acting Iowa Industrial Commissioner
  • Credibility Issues Relating to Claimants, Rita C. Grimm, Esquire
  • Credibility Issues Relating to Physicians, David D. Drake, Esquire
  • Scheduled Member Disabilities:  Medical Impairment Rating v.
    Actual Loss of Function, Mark S. Soklot, J.D.
  • “Fibromyalgia: Real or Imagined?” Frederick Holte, M.D.
  • “Ethics with the Use of New Technology” Michael R. Hoffman, Esquire
  • Case Law Update, Julie Berger, Assistant Attorney General State of Iowa
  • Mental Mental Claims Robert R. Rush, Esquire
  • Workers’ Compensation Claims Involving the Respiratory System,
    Lawrence J. Favortes, M.D., University of Iowa Medical School
7/94 Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Forum
Lincoln, Nebraska

  • Workers’ Compensation Reform in Nebraska Rod Rehm, Trial Attorney
  • Second Injury Fund Issues, Allan J. Eurek, Pierson, Fitchet, Hunseker, Blake & Loftus
  • Repetitive Motion Injuries and the ADA, James J. DeMars, Esquire DeMars,
    Gordon, Olson, Recknor & Shively
6/92 Critical Issues for Rehabilitation Professions
Nebraska Chapter NAARPS
University of Nebraska at Omaha

  • EEOC Regulations for Implementing Title I of the ADA, Peggy R. Mastroianni, J.D., Assistant Legal Counsel for the ADA Policy Division of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
  • Impact of the ADA on Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Law, Dallas D. Jones, J.D., Baylor, Evnen, Curtis, Grimmit & Witt
  • Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy – Alias Sympathetically Maintained Pain, Richard G. Bellatti, Jr., M.D., Director of the Pain Control Center, St. Joseph’s Hospital, Omaha, Nebraska
  • Job Analysis for ADA Compliance, Brent A. Ruiz, M.Ed., Executive Vice President of International Ergonomics,  St. Joseph, Missouri
3/91 National NAARPS Conference
Washington, D.C.

  • Vocational Rehabilitation Criterion & Outcomes for Traumatic Brain Injured Patients,
    M. Ashley, M.S. and B. Feldman, M.S.
  • The Labor Market Experience of Disabled Workers: Concepts, Data and Cautions for Vocational Experts, Beal Lowe, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Psychologist
  • The Role of the Vocational Expert in Wrongful Death Litigation,
    N. Bridges, Ph.D., Rehabilitation Psychologist
  • Social Security Initiatives to Encourage Employment of SSDI and SSI Beneficiaries, Susan B. Parker, Associate Commissioner for the Social Security Administration
12/90 “Vocational Economic Approach for Estimating Loss and Damages”
Everett Dillman, Ph.D. and Timothy F. Field, Ph.D.
Lost Earning Capacity Seminar
El Paso, Texas
6/90 “Critical Issues for Rehabilitation Professionals”
Nebraska NAARPS Summer Seminar

  • Liability Issues for Rehabilitation Professions, David Houghton, J.D.
  • Conducting a Job Analysis, Tom Strickland, M.Ed.
  • What’s Expected of Rehabilitation Professionals in Workers’ Compensation,
    Yvonne Norton-Yung, M.B.A., J.D.
  • Occupational Injury to the Upper Extremities, David E. Brown, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon
11/89 Critical Issues for Rehabilitation Professionals
Nebraska NAARPS Fall Seminar

  • Loss of Earning Capacity, Timothy F. Field, Ph.D.
  • Cumulative Injury and Loss of Earning Capacity, Honorable James P. Monen,
    Judge, Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Medical Management and Return to Work, Richard P. Murphy, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon, State of the Art Prosthetics and Harold Sears, Ph.D.

PUBLICATIONS

Proving Loss of Earning Power the Prairie Barrister Volume 14, No. 3 October 2008

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

Former Member of the International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals
Current Member of the American Board of Vocational Experts
Former American Academy of Disability Evaluation Physicians Adjunct Faculty Member and Vice Chair of curriculum development for vocational rehabilitation and return to work

PROFESSIONAL AWARDS

2002 Winner of the Lou Ortale Award National Rehabilitation Association