Specials come to $84,300. My range is $155,000 to $190,000.

Medicals are $71,800, of which $12,400 is chiropractic over 34 visits — that portion is soft and a defence expert would trim it. Wage loss is $12,500, documented by the employer letter and consistent with the pay stubs.

Comparable soft-tissue files in this venue with surgery recommended but not performed settled at 1.8x to 2.3x specials. That puts the band at $152,000 to $194,000; I have narrowed it slightly for the treatment gap between 6 Feb and 19 Mar.

Flag for the roundtable: the surgical recommendation is from the treating physician, not an independent examiner. If plaintiff's counsel schedules the surgery before mediation the range moves up sharply. Worth authorising now rather than after.