Product Liability Economic Damages Expert in South Carolina

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

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

South Carolina courts and expert standards

South Carolina courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable basis, and whether it will assist the fact finder, under a reliability inquiry of the state's own that does not adopt the federal test. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Supreme Court of South Carolina. Federal venues: D.S.C. Court system: sccourts.org.

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

Damages framework

South Carolina pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, mental shock, wounded feelings, and loss of companionship with a survival action for the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, both brought by the personal representative. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums.

How the analysis is built

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

Frequently asked: product liability cases in South Carolina

Which South Carolina courts hear product liability cases?

Product Liability cases venued in South Carolina are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies; two divisions, Common Pleas for civil and General Sessions for criminal matters). Final appeals run to the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina.

How does South Carolina's damages framework shape the economic analysis?

South Carolina pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, mental shock, wounded feelings, and loss of companionship with a survival action for the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, both brought by the personal representative. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums. South Carolina courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable basis, and whether it will assist the fact finder, under a reliability inquiry of the state's own that does not adopt the federal test. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record.

More questions about product liability analysis

References

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