Spinal cord injury claims justify an economist in nearly every case. The person's prior occupation has usually ended, attendant care and equipment recur for life, and the household work the person did before the injury now has to be replaced. Each of those components is a future stream with its own growth rate and duration, and the present value of the whole can only be built by an economist working from the medical, care, and earnings records. Counsel considering an economist should start by assembling the earnings history and identifying who will author the life care plan, because the plan's items and the person's post-injury work capacity are the inputs the economist prices.
Checklist
Gather the earnings history and the fringe benefits that came with the prior job
Identify the life care plan's author and timing, since the plan supplies the care and equipment items to be valued
Determine whether the record addresses what sedentary or part-time work, if any, the person can do
Document the household work the person performed before the injury and the hours now supplied by family
Note the neurological level and age, because they drive life expectancy, care hours, and the length of the earnings loss
Questions to ask the economist
How do you apply life expectancy when the medical opinions address the injury's effect on it?
Which growth rate do you apply to attendant care as opposed to equipment and supplies?
How do you treat home and vehicle modifications that recur on replacement cycles?
How do you keep the household services claim from overlapping the attendant care hours in the plan?
Timeline
Two to three weeks to a preliminary earnings view; the care component waits for the life care plan. The full report follows the retention and records phases.
Required documents
Tax returns, W-2s or 1099s, and pay stubs for the years before the injury
Employer benefit summaries or plan documents
The life care plan or the treating recommendations for future care
Medical opinions on life expectancy and post-injury work capacity
Common pitfalls
Retaining the economist before the life care plan is scheduled, leaving the largest component with no source
Applying a single growth rate to every care category when medical and non-medical costs move differently
Overlooking the fringe benefits of a trade or union job, which can be a substantial share of compensation
Which component of a spinal cord injury claim is usually the largest?
The present value of attendant care over the person's lifetime is usually the largest figure, followed by future lost earnings for a person injured early in a working life. Equipment, supplies, and modifications recur on replacement cycles and are sensitive to the cost growth rate applied. The economist values each on a consistent basis so the total can be examined item by item.
Should the economist be retained before or after the life care plan is written?
The retention can come first, but the care component cannot be valued until the plan exists. The economist can build the earnings, benefit, and household services components from the financial records while the plan is being prepared, then price the plan item by item when it is delivered. What matters is that the plan's delivery date falls before the economic report's deadline.
How does life expectancy enter the analysis?
It sets the duration of the care stream and, with worklife, the length of the earnings loss. Where the medical opinions address the injury's effect on life expectancy, the economist applies the opinion in the record and shows the result under the general population tables as an alternative. The choice is stated so the fact finder can see how much of the total it moves.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Consumer Price Index: Medical care [Fact sheet]. U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
National Center for Health Statistics. (n.d.). Life tables. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 26, 2026. cdc.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Employer Costs for Employee Compensation (ECEC). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov