Financial impact analysis quantifying economic damages including lost earnings, lost earning capacity, lost household services, and other economic losses. Our economists provide present-value calculations and expert testimony.
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Retain a forensic economist when past and future losses have to be expressed in today's dollars: lost earnings and earning capacity, fringe benefits, household services, and the present value of future care. The economist works from documented inputs - earnings records and, where the case has them, the vocational and life care opinions - and states every assumption so the calculation can be checked and re-run by either side.
| Loss category | Inputs | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Lost earnings and earning capacity | Pre- and post-injury earnings records, tax returns, and employment documentation; the vocational expert's earning capacity opinion where capacity is disputed; worklife expectancy, earnings growth, and discount rate assumptions drawn from government data and peer-reviewed sources. | Past loss to the valuation date and future loss discounted to present value, with sensitivity analysis across reasonable assumption ranges. |
| Fringe benefits | Employer-provided benefits documented in the employment record, valued with published employer cost data. | A benefits component added to the earnings stream and discounted with it. |
| Household services | Hours by task from the household services analysis, priced at replacement-cost wages for the tasks and geographic area. | Annual replacement value over the supported horizon, discounted to present value. |
| Future medical and care costs | The itemized frequencies, durations, and costs in the life care plan; medical cost growth and discount rate assumptions. | Present value of the plan by category and in total. |
| Step | Hypothetical figure |
|---|---|
| Pre-injury earning capacity, from the earnings history and the occupations held | $60,000 per year |
| Post-injury earning capacity, from the vocational opinion | $40,000 per year |
| Annual loss | $20,000 per year |
| Horizon, from published worklife expectancy tables with any case-specific adjustment | 10 years |
| Net discount rate, the discount rate less expected earnings growth | 2 percent |
| Present value of the annual loss, received at the end of each year over the horizon | About $179,650 |
| Sensitivity | A higher net discount rate lowers the present value and a lower rate raises it; the report shows the range. |
Hypothetical example for illustration only. The figures are invented to show the arithmetic; they are not drawn from any case and are not assumptions KWVRS applies to a matter.
The report documents each input, its source, and the discounting method so opposing counsel and the court can trace the result. A planning-level version of the same arithmetic is available in the economic damages estimator.
The same analysis audits an opposing economist's report: the earnings base, the worklife and growth assumptions, the discount rate, the treatment of benefits and household services, and the arithmetic. Rebuttal analyses are prepared as opposing reports are produced.
Economic services at KWVRS are led by the Chief of Economic Services, who oversees all forensic economic evaluations and analyses.
Kincaid Wolstein Economics (KW Economics) is KWVRS's affiliated firm for forensic economic analysis. Visit kweconomics.com
How forensic economics applies to the specific demands of each case type: methodology, deliverables, and what counsel should expect.
Full retained-expert engagements are billed hourly across review, evaluation, report, and (if needed) testimony phases. Specific cost depends on case complexity and engagement scope.
Yes. KWVRS provides independent, objective forensic economics for plaintiff and defense counsel. The methodology is the same regardless of which side commissions the work; KWVRS provides neutral analysis grounded in accepted protocols.
KWVRS accepts forensic economics engagements in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. State-specific framing is available on the per-state pages linked below.
Full retained-expert reports typically take 30 to 90 days from records receipt depending on case complexity. Rush turnarounds are accommodated case-by-case.
Contact KWVRS to discuss scope, timing, and the deliverables appropriate to the matter. Plaintiff and defense.