Pennsylvania courts ask whether the methodology behind an expert opinion is generally accepted in the relevant professional community and whether the economist is qualified by training and experience to apply it. The methods of forensic economics for lost earnings, worklife, and present value are published and long used, so the examination of a damages report usually turns on its inputs and their support in the record. The forensic economist qualification is what that inquiry examines: graduate training in economics, finance, or business, a published damages method applied to the record, and a record of reports and testimony.
State recognition: Recognized nationally; no state licensure applies. There is no state license for forensic economists to check, so counsel verify the credential with its issuer and review the economist's testimony record directly.
For a matter venued in Pennsylvania, counsel verify the qualification the same way in every venue, because no state licenses forensic economists and there is no Pennsylvania register to check. The elements are the economist's graduate training, the published method behind each component of the report, and the testimony record, and each can be examined directly: the CV, the report's stated sources, and the transcripts of prior depositions. In Pennsylvania, the same elements are what the court weighs when the opinion is challenged, so a report that ties every input to the record and names its data sources answers the qualification question before it is asked.
KW Economics economists apply nationally recognized methods while accounting for Pennsylvania's wage levels, venue, and damages rules.
Economic damages experts testify in Pennsylvania's courts, where qualification is decided case by case on education, method, and experience rather than on any single credential.
Highest court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Federal venues: E.D. Pa., M.D. Pa., W.D. Pa. Court system: pacourts.us.
Pennsylvania courts ask whether the methodology behind an expert opinion is generally accepted in the relevant professional community and whether the economist is qualified by training and experience to apply it. The methods of forensic economics for lost earnings, worklife, and present value are published and long used, so the examination of a damages report usually turns on its inputs and their support in the record. Recognized nationally; no state licensure applies. There is no state license for forensic economists to check, so counsel verify the credential with its issuer and review the economist's testimony record directly.
Request a consultation on Pennsylvania damages matters or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.