Preparing an economist for deposition in a personal injury matter means walking through the report the way opposing counsel will: the earnings base, the worklife assumption, the wage growth rate, the discount rate, the post-injury path, the fringe benefit rate, the household services hours and wage rates, and the growth rate applied to future care. Each assumption should be tied to a stated source and the report should show the result under alternatives, so the economist can explain what moves the number without conceding that the number is arbitrary. Counsel should also confirm that the economist's inputs match the current medical and work-capacity opinions.
Checklist
Review the report section by section and confirm every assumption has a stated source
Confirm the post-injury path matches the latest work-capacity and medical opinions in the record
Prepare the economist to explain the worklife, growth, and discount choices and the sensitivity ranges
Assemble the file the economist relied on and the list of materials considered for production
Review the opposing economist's report, if served, for the assumptions that differ
Questions to ask the economist
Which of your assumptions moves the number most, and how do you support it?
How does the result change if the worklife or the discount rate is set at the opposing economist's values?
What did you rely on for the post-injury earnings path, and what happens if that opinion changes?
Which items in the report came from other experts, and did you check them for internal consistency?
Timeline
One to two preparation sessions in the two weeks before the deposition, after the report and the reliance materials are final.
Required documents
The final report with its tables and the sources for each assumption
The complete reliance file and the list of materials considered
The current medical, work-capacity, and care opinions
The opposing economist's report and any prior testimony by the economist on the same questions
Common pitfalls
Serving a report whose inputs predate a changed work-capacity opinion, which the deposition exposes
Presenting a single figure with no sensitivity analysis, so every assumption looks like advocacy
Leaving the fringe benefit and household services components unsupported while the earnings component is fully sourced
What are the most common attacks on an economic damages report at deposition?
That the earnings base is inflated by an unusual year, that the worklife is too long, that wage growth is too high or the discount rate too low, that the post-injury path ignores what the person can do, and that household services or benefits are double counted. A report that states each assumption, sources it, and shows alternatives meets each attack on its own terms.
What must be produced from the economist's file before the deposition?
Typically the report, the materials considered, the data sources relied on, the fee arrangement, and any list of prior testimony the disclosure rules require, subject to the protections counsel has confirmed for draft reports and attorney communications. The economist should keep the reliance file organized from the start so production is a copy rather than a reconstruction. Counsel reviews it before it goes out.
How much preparation time does the economist need?
One or two sessions in the two weeks before the deposition, after the report and the reliance file are final and the opposing report has been read. The sessions cover the assumptions most likely to be attacked, the sensitivity tables, and the sources of the inputs taken from other experts. Preparation that starts after a changed medical opinion is discovered is too late.
References
Skoog, G. R., Ciecka, J. E., & Krueger, K. V. (2011). The Markov process model of labor force activity: Extended tables of central tendency, shape, percentile points, and bootstrap standard errors. Journal of Forensic Economics, 22(2), 165-229. doi.org
U.S. Department of the Treasury. (n.d.). Daily Treasury par yield curve rates. home.treasury.gov