KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses - lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, and business damages - for matters venued in Alabama. Wage levels and the cost of living in Alabama differ between its metropolitan counties and its rural ones, so an earnings projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own work history and to wage data for the area where the plaintiff actually worked rather than to a statewide average. Plaintiff and defense.
With about 5.0 million residents, Alabama contains more than one distinct wage market, and the analysis uses the one the plaintiff actually worked in: occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for that metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area, and household and cost-of-living data from the American Community Survey. Fringe benefits, worklife expectancy, wage growth, and the discount rate are each documented with their source so every figure in the projection can be traced and tested at deposition.
Our forensic economists prepare lost earnings, wrongful death, household services, employment, and business damages analyses and rebuttals for Alabama litigation. Each projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to Alabama wage data, and written to the jurisdiction's expert evidence standards.
Analyses for Alabama matters are directed by Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services, who is available to testify to them.
KW Economics accepts cases from attorneys across Alabama. Select a city for local wage-market and venue context.
An economic damages report is written for the forum that will examine it and around the damages rules that forum applies.
Alabama measures wrongful death differently from most states: the recovery is punitive in character rather than a computation of the survivors' pecuniary loss, so the economist's projection of the decedent's earnings plays a narrower role than in a personal injury claim, where lost earnings and household services are measured in the usual way. Alabama retains contributory negligence, evidence that medical expenses were paid by insurance or other sources is admissible, a departure from the strict collateral source rule, and prejudgment interest is generally not awarded on unliquidated tort damages.
Alabama Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division
Highest court: Supreme Court of Alabama. Federal venues: N.D. Ala., M.D. Ala., S.D. Ala.
Alabama's Circuit Court is the primary trial-level forum for the personal injury, wrongful death, employment, and commercial damages claims these analyses support. Workers' compensation claims, where the dispute is over wage-loss benefits rather than tort damages, are administered by the Alabama Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division. Final appeals in the Alabama court system run to the Supreme Court of Alabama. Alabama is served by 3 federal district courts, where the same analyses are offered under the federal expert-disclosure framework.
Yes. KW Economics prepares lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, lost profits, and business valuation analyses, and reviews and rebuts opposing economic reports, for attorneys handling matters venued in Alabama, for plaintiff and defense counsel alike. Every projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to wage data for the area of Alabama where the plaintiff actually worked.
The starting point is the plaintiff's own earnings history - tax returns, W-2s, pay records, and benefit statements - rather than an average. Occupational wage data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the plaintiff's metropolitan or nonmetropolitan area in Alabama is used to test that history, to project a career that was still developing, and to value residual earnings after the injury, and household composition and cost-of-living data come from the American Community Survey. The source behind each figure is documented in the report.
Personal injury, wrongful death, employment, and commercial damages claims are heard in Alabama's general-jurisdiction trial courts and, where jurisdiction allows, in the federal district courts serving Alabama. Wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the compensation forum rather than the civil courts. Attorneys are responsible for confirming the venue and the governing damages rules for their specific case.
The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the measure of damages in Alabama calls for it, and combined with the value of the household services the decedent would have provided. Each future year is then discounted to present value at a documented rate tied to the growth assumptions, so the report shows the lump sum that replaces the lost stream today. Which components are recoverable is a question of Alabama law that counsel confirms; the report is structured so each component can be included or removed.
Request a consultation on Alabama cases or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.