The National Association of Forensic Economics is the principal professional association for economists who work in litigation. It publishes the Journal of Forensic Economics, the peer-reviewed journal in which the methods used for lost earnings, worklife expectancy, discounting, and household services were developed and debated, and it maintains a Statement of Ethical Principles and Principles of Professional Practice that addresses engagement, compensation, diligence, disclosure of data and methods, and consistency of method regardless of which party retains the economist. Membership signals that an economist participates in that professional discourse and has agreed to its ethics statement. It is not a certification: the association does not examine members, review their reports, or attest to their competence, and a membership line on a CV should be read alongside the education and testimony record that actually qualifies the witness.
Courts do not require association membership to admit economic testimony, and membership alone does not establish that an opinion is reliable. What the association contributes to admissibility is indirect. The methods published in its peer-reviewed journal are the kind of tested, criticized, and refined approaches a court looks for when it asks whether a technique has been vetted by the profession, and an economist whose report follows the ethics statement - disclosing data, assumptions, and method, and applying the same approach for plaintiff and defense - has already answered most of the questions a reliability challenge raises.
No. NAFE is a membership association, not a certifying body. It does not examine applicants or audit reports. Membership shows that the economist has joined the field's professional community and agreed to its ethics statement; it does not test or attest to competence.
Because it sets out, in the profession's own words, what a reliable damages analysis looks like: disclosed data and assumptions, methods the economist would apply the same way for either side, fees that do not depend on the outcome, and opinions offered only within the economist's competence. Counsel can hold any report, including an opposing one, up against those principles directly.
Ask the expert for the membership year and confirm it with the association. A CV line is a representation, not a record, and membership can lapse. This site does not represent that any particular person is a current member; ask us directly about the affiliations of the economist assigned to your matter and we will answer specifically.
The association's peer-reviewed journal. It is where much of the worklife expectancy, discounting, wage growth, and household services literature that damages reports rely on was published, refined, and criticized, which is why reports cite it when they explain their method and why courts treat those methods as tested.
Request a consultation or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.