Deposition preparation in a wrongful death matter concentrates on the assumptions that scale the whole report: the personal consumption deduction, the worklife and life expectancy applied to the decedent, the wage growth and discount rates, and the hours and wage rates behind household services. Opposing counsel will test whether consumption was drawn from household expenditure data appropriate to the household's size and income, whether the decedent's earnings history supports the base, and whether the survivors' account of household services was documented rather than assumed. The economist should be ready to explain each choice and show the result under alternatives.
Checklist
Review the consumption approach and confirm it fits the household's size and income
Confirm the earnings base against the tax returns and the worklife against the decedent's age, education, and history
Verify that household services rest on the survivors' documented account and time-use data
Prepare the economist to explain the framework's treatment of each survivor's loss
Assemble the reliance file and review the opposing economist's assumptions
Questions to ask the economist
How did you derive the consumption percentage, and how does it change with household size?
What worklife did you apply, and how does the result change under a shorter one?
How did you document the decedent's household services, and what wage rates did you apply?
Which of your inputs came from the survivors and how did you verify them?
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 and the sources behind consumption, worklife, growth, and discount
The survivor questionnaires or interview notes on household services and support
The decedent's earnings and benefit records
The opposing economist's report
Common pitfalls
Applying a consumption rate from a household of a different size or income level
Presenting household services without documentation of the decedent's actual role
Ignoring the framework's treatment of consumption, which the opposing economist will apply if the report does not
Why is personal consumption the most contested assumption?
Because it is subtracted from the entire earnings stream, so a small change in the percentage moves the whole figure. The economist supports the rate with household expenditure data matched to the household's size and income and explains why that match is appropriate, and the report shows the result under alternative rates.
How does the economist handle a question about the decedent's health or habits?
By pointing to the life expectancy and worklife inputs in the report and their sources. Where the record contains a medical opinion on the decedent's life expectancy, the economist applied it; where it does not, the general population tables were used and the report says so. The economist does not offer a medical view of the decedent's health.
What if the survivors' account of household services changes at their own depositions?
The economist revises the hours and issues a supplemental calculation, and the preparation session should cover what the report would show under the revised account. The report ties the household services figure to the survivors' documented statements and time-use data, so a change traces to a specific input rather than undermining the method.
References
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (n.d.). Consumer Expenditure Surveys (CE). U.S. Department of Labor. bls.gov
Arias, E., Xu, J., & Kochanek, K. D. (2025). United States life tables, 2023. National Vital Statistics Reports, 74(6), 1-63. National Center for Health Statistics. doi.org
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