Product Liability Economic Damages Expert in Massachusetts

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

KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses for product liability 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 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.

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 product liability case venued in Massachusetts; 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.

Experts serving Massachusetts

Attorney guides for product liability cases

Other case types in Massachusetts

Frequently asked: product liability cases in Massachusetts

Which Massachusetts courts hear product liability cases?

Product Liability 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 product liability analysis

References

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