Forensic Economists in Delaware

KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses - lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, and business damages - for matters venued in Delaware. Earnings in Delaware are shaped by regional wage markets that do not stop at the state line, 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, whichever side of the line that is, rather than to a statewide or national average. Plaintiff and defense.

With about 990,000 residents, Delaware 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.

Expert Services in Delaware

Our forensic economists prepare lost earnings, wrongful death, household services, employment, and business damages analyses and rebuttals for Delaware litigation. Each projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to Delaware wage data, and written to the jurisdiction's expert evidence standards.

Analyses for Delaware matters are directed by Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services, who is available to testify to them.

Cities We Serve in Delaware

KW Economics accepts cases from attorneys across Delaware. Select a city for local wage-market and venue context.

Where Delaware Damages Claims Are Litigated

An economic damages report is written for the forum that will examine it and around the damages rules that forum applies.

Damages Framework

Delaware provides a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary losses and mental anguish alongside a survival action for the estate, and recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants. The collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice, where evidence of collateral payments is admissible, and prejudgment interest is available in personal injury actions when the plaintiff made a timely written settlement demand.

Workers' Compensation Forum

Delaware Office of Workers' Compensation

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: Delaware Supreme Court. Federal venues: D. Del.

Case Types We Support in Delaware

Expert Credentials in Delaware

Delaware's Superior 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 Delaware Office of Workers' Compensation. Final appeals in the Delaware court system run to the Delaware Supreme Court. Delaware is served by 1 federal district court, where the same analyses are offered under the federal expert-disclosure framework.

Frequently asked: Delaware expert services

Does KW Economics provide forensic economics services for Delaware cases?

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 Delaware, for plaintiff and defense counsel alike. Every projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to wage data for the area of Delaware where the plaintiff actually worked.

How does a forensic economist account for Delaware wage levels in a lost earnings claim?

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 Delaware 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.

Which courts in Delaware hear the damages claims your reports support?

Personal injury, wrongful death, employment, and commercial damages claims are heard in Delaware's general-jurisdiction trial courts and, where jurisdiction allows, in the federal district courts serving Delaware. 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.

How is present value calculated for a wrongful death claim in Delaware?

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 Delaware 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 Delaware law that counsel confirms; the report is structured so each component can be included or removed.

Request a consultation on Delaware cases or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.