Personal Injury Economic Damages Expert in Massachusetts

By Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services · Published · Reviewed

KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses for personal injury cases venued in Massachusetts: the components the loss claim consists of, the records that drive them, and a present value built to Massachusetts's damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.

A personal injury economic claim consists of the earnings and fringe benefits the injury has taken away, the household work the person can no longer do, and the present value of the future care the record supports, each tied to the person's own records. Read the full personal injury analysis guide.

Massachusetts courts and expert standards

Massachusetts courts ask whether the reasoning and methodology behind an expert opinion are reliable, which can be shown either by general acceptance in the profession or by the reliability factors the federal courts use, and whether the witness is qualified by training and experience. Forensic economic methods satisfy that inquiry through their published literature, so the examination usually turns on the inputs and their support in the record.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Supreme Judicial Court. Federal venues: D. Mass. Court system: mass.gov.

Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents.

Damages framework

Massachusetts measures wrongful death by the fair monetary value of the decedent to the beneficiaries, including lost income, services, protection, care, assistance, society, and companionship, and permits punitive damages for gross negligence, with the decedent's own conscious suffering recovered by the estate. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice, and prejudgment interest on tort awards runs from the commencement of the action.

How the analysis is built

The same four steps apply to a personal injury case venued in Massachusetts; the damages framework above decides which components enter the total.

  1. Establish the but-for earnings and fringe benefit base from the tax, wage, benefit, and personnel records, or from occupational data for a career still in training.
  2. Project the base over a statistically expected worklife with a stated wage growth rate and compare it with the post-injury path the record supports.
  3. Value household services from time-use data and local replacement rates, and price the future care in the life care plan item by item with medical cost growth.
  4. Discount every future stream to present value at a stated rate and show the sensitivity of the total to the contested assumptions.

Experts serving Massachusetts

Attorney guides for personal injury cases

Other case types in Massachusetts

Frequently asked: personal injury cases in Massachusetts

Which Massachusetts courts hear personal injury cases?

Personal Injury cases venued in Massachusetts are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, major criminal cases). Final appeals run to the Supreme Judicial Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

How does Massachusetts's damages framework shape the economic analysis?

Massachusetts measures wrongful death by the fair monetary value of the decedent to the beneficiaries, including lost income, services, protection, care, assistance, society, and companionship, and permits punitive damages for gross negligence, with the decedent's own conscious suffering recovered by the estate. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice, and prejudgment interest on tort awards runs from the commencement of the action. Massachusetts courts ask whether the reasoning and methodology behind an expert opinion are reliable, which can be shown either by general acceptance in the profession or by the reliability factors the federal courts use, and whether the witness is qualified by training and experience. Forensic economic methods satisfy that inquiry through their published literature, so the examination usually turns on the inputs and their support in the record.

More questions about personal injury analysis

References

Request a consultation on personal injury cases in Massachusetts or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.