KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses - lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, and business damages - for matters venued in Washington. Wage levels and the cost of living in Washington vary between its metropolitan areas and its rural counties, 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 7.7 million residents, Washington 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 Washington litigation. Each projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to Washington wage data, and written to the jurisdiction's expert evidence standards.
Analyses for Washington 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 Washington. 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.
Washington pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, which was broadened in recent years to reach more family members, with a general survival action in which the estate recovers the decedent's economic losses, including net future earnings, and a limited survival claim for the decedent's own pre-death suffering. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the collateral source rule applies outside medical malpractice where evidence of collateral payments is admissible, statutory limits on noneconomic damages have been held unconstitutional, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums.
Washington Department of Labor and Industries
Highest court: Washington Supreme Court. Federal venues: W.D. Wash., E.D. Wash.
Washington'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 Washington Department of Labor and Industries. Final appeals in the Washington court system run to the Washington Supreme Court. Washington is served by 2 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 Washington, for plaintiff and defense counsel alike. Every projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to wage data for the area of Washington 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 Washington 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 Washington's general-jurisdiction trial courts and, where jurisdiction allows, in the federal district courts serving Washington. 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 Washington 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 Washington law that counsel confirms; the report is structured so each component can be included or removed.
Request a consultation on Washington cases or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.