Retaining an economist in a workers' compensation matter begins with naming the question: a present value of future benefits for settlement, an economic loss report for a third-party action, or a wage-loss analysis where the benefit turns on loss of earning capacity. The scope, the records, and the report format differ for each, and a third-party report must also separate what the compensation system pays from the components the civil claim adds so the lien and offset questions can be answered from the same numbers.
Checklist
Run the conflict check on the claimant, the employer, the carrier, and counsel
State the question the analysis answers and the format the compensation system or the court expects
Request the employer's wage records, the claimant's tax returns, and the carrier's payment history
Obtain the post-injury earnings records and the work-capacity opinions in the record
For future medical, obtain the treatment projection prepared by the providers or by others
Questions to ask the economist
How do you present paid benefits in a third-party report so counsel can address liens and offsets?
Which mortality and discount assumptions do you use for a benefit stream, and how do you state them?
How do you express a loss of earning capacity in the form the compensation system requires?
How do you keep the compensation measure and the civil measure separate in one report?
Timeline
About one week for retention and the records request, then one to three weeks for a benefit-stream present value or two to four weeks for a third-party damages analysis, then one to two weeks for the draft and final report.
Required documents
Employer wage records and tax returns for the years before the injury
The carrier's indemnity and medical payment history and the applicable benefit schedule
Post-injury earnings records
Work-capacity opinions in the record
The treatment projection, if future medical is being valued
Common pitfalls
Retaining for a settlement value without the carrier's payment history and the schedule that applies
Asking the economist to prepare the treatment projection, which comes from the providers or others
Netting paid benefits into the third-party loss before counsel has decided how liens will be presented
Can one economist serve both the compensation claim and the third-party action?
Yes, and it is often efficient, because the same wage base and post-injury path support both. The report presents each measure on its own terms and reconciles them, so the same facts support the benefit determination and the civil damages figure without contradiction.
What does the economist need to value a benefit stream for settlement?
The carrier's payment history for indemnity and medical benefits, the applicable benefit schedule and rate, the claimant's date of birth, and any settlement proposal on the table. With those the economist states the mortality table and discount rate applied and produces a present value that both sides can check. Wage records are needed only where the benefit rate itself is in dispute.
How is the engagement scoped when a third-party action is pending?
The letter names both questions: the compensation measure for the claim and the civil measure for the third-party action. The economist builds one wage base and one post-injury path, then presents each measure on its own terms with the benefits paid shown separately so counsel can address liens and offsets. The scope avoids netting the two before counsel has decided how they will be presented.
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