Product Liability Economic Damages Expert in Florida

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

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

Florida courts and expert standards

Florida courts apply a reliability inquiry to expert testimony: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and on reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were applied reliably to the facts of the case. A damages report is written to that standard, with each rate and table traced to a published source.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Florida Supreme Court. Federal venues: N.D. Fla., M.D. Fla., S.D. Fla. Court system: flcourts.gov.

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

Damages framework

Florida's Wrongful Death Act gives each survivor a claim for lost support and services and gives the estate a claim for the decedent's lost net accumulations, an expressly economic concept that the economist projects from the decedent's earnings, consumption, and savings pattern. Awards are reduced by collateral-source payments unless the source holds a subrogation right, recovery is barred in most negligence actions once the plaintiff is found more at fault than the defendants, and prejudgment interest is generally not awarded on personal injury or wrongful death damages.

How the analysis is built

The same four steps apply to a product liability case venued in Florida; 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 Florida

Frequently asked: product liability cases in Florida

Which Florida courts hear product liability cases?

Product Liability cases venued in Florida are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies, family law, probate). Final appeals run to the Florida Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Courts for the Northern District of Florida, Middle District of Florida, and Southern District of Florida.

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

Florida's Wrongful Death Act gives each survivor a claim for lost support and services and gives the estate a claim for the decedent's lost net accumulations, an expressly economic concept that the economist projects from the decedent's earnings, consumption, and savings pattern. Awards are reduced by collateral-source payments unless the source holds a subrogation right, recovery is barred in most negligence actions once the plaintiff is found more at fault than the defendants, and prejudgment interest is generally not awarded on personal injury or wrongful death damages. Florida courts apply a reliability inquiry to expert testimony: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and on reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were applied reliably to the facts of the case. A damages report is written to that standard, with each rate and table traced to a published source.

More questions about product liability analysis

References

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