Rules For Working With Economics Expert Witnesses – Part 2

In 14 Rules For Working With An Expert Economist, expert witness Dr. Jerome M. Staller offers “rules” to follow that will help your economics expert witness do the best job he or she can for you and your client.

Engage in specific discovery for each damages claim. Claims for economic damages can involve several elements: lost income, lost household services, lost fringe benefits, different elements of survival and wrongful death claims. Your economist requires specific data relevant to each of these elements. Help your economist by discovering facts relevant to each element of damages.

Think through the logic of each separate aspect of the claim. What aspects of the plaintiff’s particular situation may affect the economic damages argument? Is the industry the plaintiff works in affected by any special economic factors that may not be obvious? Was a self-employed plaintiff’s income the result of the disabled plaintiff’s labor, or was it return on investment? Would a preexisting health condition have limited the plaintiff’s ability to earn income, regardless of the injury at issue? Is it reasonable to argue that a disabled construction worker could become a computer specialist?

Excerpted from The Center for Forensic Economic Studies http://www.cfes.com/