Deposition preparation in a workers' compensation matter depends on which question the report answers. For a benefit-stream present value the questions are the schedule applied, the mortality assumption, and the discount rate. For a third-party report they are the wage base, the post-injury path, the components the compensation system does not pay, and how paid benefits are presented. For a loss of earning capacity determination they are the pre-injury wage and the post-injury wage the record supports. The economist should be ready to keep the compensation measure and the civil measure separate and to explain how the same facts support both.
Checklist
Confirm the report answers the question the proceeding actually presents
Review the benefit schedule, mortality, and discount assumptions for a benefit-stream valuation
For a third-party report, confirm the paid benefits are presented separately from the gross loss
Confirm the post-injury wage assumption matches the work-capacity opinion in the record; where that opinion was coordinated with a vocational specialist, confirm the economist priced it rather than formed it
Assemble the reliance file and the opposing report
Questions to ask the economist
What schedule and payment history did you rely on, and how did you treat benefits already paid?
Which mortality table and discount rate did you apply to the benefit stream, and why?
How did you set the post-injury wage, and what supports it?
How do the compensation measure and the civil measure differ in your report, and why are both stated?
Timeline
One preparation session in the week before the deposition for a benefit-stream valuation; one to two sessions in the two weeks before for a third-party damages report.
Required documents
The final report and the schedule or payment history it relies on
Employer wage records and tax returns
The work-capacity opinions in the record and post-injury earnings records
The opposing report
Common pitfalls
Mixing the compensation system's measure of loss with the civil measure in one figure
Netting paid benefits into the loss before counsel has decided how liens and offsets will be presented
Applying a discount rate to the benefit stream without stating its source
Will the economist be asked about the medical treatment projection?
Only about how it was valued. The items, frequencies, and costs come from the providers or from a projection prepared by others; the economist applies cost growth and discounts the stream. The economist should identify the source of the projection and confine the testimony to the valuation.
How should the economist prepare for questions about benefits already paid?
By presenting the carrier's payment history as a separate schedule and stating plainly that the report shows the gross loss and the benefits paid side by side without netting them. Whether and how the paid benefits offset the civil recovery is a question for counsel and the court. The economist's preparation covers where the figures come from and why they are kept separate.
What is different about preparing for a hearing rather than a deposition?
The questioning is usually shorter and goes directly to the schedule applied, the mortality and discount assumptions, and the wage figures, because the hearing officer knows the compensation system. The economist should be ready to state each assumption's source in a sentence and to produce the present value calculation on request. The preparation can be a single review of the schedule and the assumptions.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Current Population Survey (CPS). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
U.S. Department of the Treasury. (n.d.). Daily Treasury par yield curve rates. home.treasury.gov
National Center for Health Statistics. (n.d.). Life tables. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved August 26, 2026. cdc.gov