Personal Injury Economic Damages Expert in Mississippi

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

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

Mississippi courts and expert standards

Mississippi trial judges act as gatekeepers for expert testimony and ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the method is reliable and accepted in the profession, and whether it was applied reliably to the facts of the case. An economic damages report is written to that inquiry, with each input traced to the record and each data series named.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Mississippi Supreme Court. Federal venues: N.D. Miss., S.D. Miss. Court system: courts.ms.gov.

Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Mississippi Workers' Compensation Commission.

Damages framework

Mississippi's wrongful death statute gathers every claim arising from a death into one action: the present net cash value of the decedent's life expectancy, the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the survivors' loss of society and companionship. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule applies, a statutory limit applies to noneconomic damages while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated tort damages is generally not awarded.

How the analysis is built

The same four steps apply to a personal injury case venued in Mississippi; 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.

Attorney guides for personal injury cases

Other case types in Mississippi

Frequently asked: personal injury cases in Mississippi

Which Mississippi courts hear personal injury cases?

Personal Injury cases venued in Mississippi are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; civil cases above the justice court threshold, felonies) and the County Court (Exists in more populous counties; mid-sized civil cases). Final appeals run to the Mississippi Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Mississippi and Southern District of Mississippi.

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

Mississippi's wrongful death statute gathers every claim arising from a death into one action: the present net cash value of the decedent's life expectancy, the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the survivors' loss of society and companionship. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule applies, a statutory limit applies to noneconomic damages while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated tort damages is generally not awarded. Mississippi trial judges act as gatekeepers for expert testimony and ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the method is reliable and accepted in the profession, and whether it was applied reliably to the facts of the case. An economic damages report is written to that inquiry, with each input traced to the record and each data series named.

More questions about personal injury analysis

References

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