Forensic Economists in North Dakota

KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses - lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, and business damages - for matters venued in North Dakota. Earnings histories in North Dakota often reflect manufacturing, agriculture, health care, and logistics employment with distinct wage paths and benefit packages, so the projection is built from the plaintiff's own records and from wage data for the plaintiff's own occupation and area rather than from a statewide average. Plaintiff and defense.

With about 779,000 residents, North Dakota 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 North Dakota

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

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

Cities We Serve in North Dakota

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

Where North Dakota 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

North Dakota pairs a wrongful death action for the damages to the surviving spouse, children, or parents with a survival action for the estate, and a statutory limit applies to noneconomic damages in health care malpractice claims while economic damages are unlimited. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, economic damages are reduced after verdict by collateral-source payments other than those the plaintiff purchased or that carry a subrogation right, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to sums that were certain when the loss occurred.

Workers' Compensation Forum

North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance

Where these cases are heard

Highest court: North Dakota Supreme Court. Federal venues: D.N.D.

Case Types We Support in North Dakota

Expert Credentials in North Dakota

North Dakota's District 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 North Dakota Workforce Safety and Insurance. Final appeals in the North Dakota court system run to the North Dakota Supreme Court. North Dakota is served by 1 federal district court, where the same analyses are offered under the federal expert-disclosure framework.

Frequently asked: North Dakota expert services

Does KW Economics provide forensic economics services for North Dakota 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 North Dakota, for plaintiff and defense counsel alike. Every projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to wage data for the area of North Dakota where the plaintiff actually worked.

How does a forensic economist account for North Dakota 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 North Dakota 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 North Dakota hear the damages claims your reports support?

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

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

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