Product Liability Economic Damages Expert in Delaware

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

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

A product liability economic claim measures lost earnings and benefits, household services, and the present value of future care, or the survivors' loss when the injury was fatal, built from the injured person's own path rather than from an occupation the product happened to involve. Read the full product liability analysis guide.

Delaware courts and expert standards

Delaware courts screen expert testimony for reliability before it reaches the fact finder: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and a method the profession recognizes, and whether the method was reliably applied to the case. A report that states each assumption and its source answers those questions directly.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Delaware Supreme Court. Federal venues: D. Del. Court system: courts.delaware.gov.

Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Delaware Office of Workers' Compensation.

Damages framework

Delaware provides a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary losses and mental anguish alongside a survival action for the estate, and recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants. The collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice, where evidence of collateral payments is admissible, and prejudgment interest is available in personal injury actions when the plaintiff made a timely written settlement demand.

How the analysis is built

The same four steps apply to a product liability case venued in Delaware; the damages framework above decides which components enter the total.

  1. Establish the but-for path from the earnings history or, for a child, student, or homemaker, from the educational path, occupational data, or the household work performed.
  2. Draw the post-injury path from actual earnings and the work-capacity opinions, and project both paths over the applicable worklife or life expectancy with growth.
  3. Value household services from time-use data and local rates, and price future care from the life care plan with category-specific cost growth.
  4. Discount every stream to present value at a stated rate and, where there are multiple claimants, apply one documented methodology to each record.

Attorney guides for product liability cases

Other case types in Delaware

Frequently asked: product liability cases in Delaware

Which Delaware courts hear product liability cases?

Product Liability cases venued in Delaware are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies), the Court of Chancery (Equity jurisdiction; nationally prominent for corporate and business disputes), and the Court of Common Pleas (Mid-sized civil cases, lesser criminal offenses). Final appeals run to the Delaware Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

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

Delaware provides a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary losses and mental anguish alongside a survival action for the estate, and recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants. The collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice, where evidence of collateral payments is admissible, and prejudgment interest is available in personal injury actions when the plaintiff made a timely written settlement demand. Delaware courts screen expert testimony for reliability before it reaches the fact finder: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and a method the profession recognizes, and whether the method was reliably applied to the case. A report that states each assumption and its source answers those questions directly.

More questions about product liability analysis

References

Request a consultation on product liability cases in Delaware or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.