Traumatic Brain Injury Economic Damages Expert in New Hampshire

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

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

A traumatic brain injury economic claim measures the earnings, benefits, and household contributions the injury has taken away and reduces the care plan to present value, with the supervision hours and the residual work capacity stated so they can be tested. Read the full traumatic brain injury analysis guide.

New Hampshire courts and expert standards

New Hampshire courts screen expert testimony for reliability under a statutory standard: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were reliably applied to the case. A damages report is written to that inquiry, with every rate and table traced to a published source.

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: New Hampshire Supreme Court. Federal venues: D.N.H. Court system: courts.state.nh.us.

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

Damages framework

New Hampshire treats a death claim as the decedent's own action carried on by the estate: recovery includes the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the probable duration of life and the capacity to earn money lost by the death, with limited separate allowances for a surviving spouse's and children's loss of comfort and society. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and interest on the award runs from the filing of the writ.

How the analysis is built

The same four steps apply to a traumatic brain injury case venued in New Hampshire; the damages framework above decides which components enter the total.

  1. Establish the but-for earnings path from the person's history or, for a young person, from occupational data for the path they were on.
  2. Draw the post-injury path from actual earnings and the work-capacity opinions in the record, and measure the earnings gap over the remaining worklife.
  3. Value household services and family supervision from time-use data and local rates, and price the care plan item by item with medical cost growth.
  4. Discount every future stream to present value at a stated rate and show the total under each supervision and work-capacity scenario.

Attorney guides for traumatic brain injury cases

Other case types in New Hampshire

Frequently asked: traumatic brain injury cases in New Hampshire

Which New Hampshire courts hear traumatic brain injury cases?

Traumatic Brain Injury cases venued in New Hampshire are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; civil cases with jury trials, felonies). Final appeals run to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

How does New Hampshire's damages framework shape the economic analysis?

New Hampshire treats a death claim as the decedent's own action carried on by the estate: recovery includes the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the probable duration of life and the capacity to earn money lost by the death, with limited separate allowances for a surviving spouse's and children's loss of comfort and society. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and interest on the award runs from the filing of the writ. New Hampshire courts screen expert testimony for reliability under a statutory standard: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were reliably applied to the case. A damages report is written to that inquiry, with every rate and table traced to a published source.

More questions about traumatic brain injury analysis

References

Request a consultation on traumatic brain injury cases in New Hampshire or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.