Traumatic brain injury claims almost always justify an economist, because cognitive and behavioral effects can end a career even when physical function returns, and because the care and supervision costs can extend over a lifetime. The economic claim combines lost earnings and earning capacity, lost fringe benefits, the replacement cost of household services, and the present value of the future care documented in a life care plan or treating recommendations. Counsel considering an economist should understand that the size of the claim depends on inputs prepared by others: the medical and work-capacity opinions define the post-injury path, and the economist prices it.
Checklist
Gather the person's earnings history and, for a young person, the educational and occupational path they were on
Determine whether the record contains an opinion on what work, if any, the person can do now
Identify whether a life care plan is planned and who will author it, since its present value is often the largest figure
Document the household work and supervision the family now provides without pay
Note the person's age, because a long remaining worklife drives the earnings component
Questions to ask the economist
How do you build the but-for earnings path for a student or a young worker with a short earnings history?
How do you treat a return to work with supports or at a lower level as a partial loss?
How do you reconcile attendant care in the life care plan with a household services claim to avoid double counting?
What do you need from the neuropsychological and treating opinions to define the post-injury path?
Timeline
Two to three weeks to a preliminary view, because the post-injury path depends on medical and work-capacity opinions that may not yet exist. The full report follows the retention and records phases.
Required documents
Tax returns, W-2s or 1099s, and pay stubs, or school records for a student
Employer benefit summaries
Neuropsychological and treating opinions bearing on work capacity and supervision
The life care plan, if one exists, with its item-level cost tables
Common pitfalls
Retaining the economist before anyone has addressed what the person can do now, so the post-injury path has no basis in the record
Assuming a mild injury means a small claim when persistent symptoms keep the person out of skilled work
Claiming both attendant care hours and household services for the same tasks without reconciling them
Can the economist estimate what the injured person can still earn?
No. That opinion comes from the medical record or from vocational findings supplied by other experts. The economist takes the post-injury capacity as given, prices it with occupational earnings data, and measures the gap against the but-for path. Retaining the economist alone does not close that gap in the record.
How long does it take to reach a preliminary view in a brain injury case?
Longer than in a straightforward injury case, because the post-injury path depends on neuropsychological and treating opinions that may not exist yet. The earnings base and the fringe benefit rate can be established from the financial records in the first weeks; the gap measurement waits for an opinion on what work the person can do. Counsel should expect a provisional range first and a full analysis after the medical picture settles.
Who supplies the supervision and care hours the economist prices?
The life care plan or the treating providers supply the care and supervision items, and the family's account documents the unpaid hours now being provided at home. The economist prices those hours at replacement rates, reconciles them with the household services claim so no hour is counted twice, and states the source of every input. The economist does not decide how much supervision the person needs.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Current Population Survey (CPS). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Consumer Price Index: Medical care [Fact sheet]. U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov