KW Economics prepares economic damages analyses - lost earnings, wrongful death economic loss, household services, employment damages, and business damages - for matters venued in West Virginia. Wage levels and the cost of living in West Virginia 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 1.8 million residents, West Virginia 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 West Virginia litigation. Each projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to West Virginia wage data, and written to the jurisdiction's expert evidence standards.
Analyses for West Virginia 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 West Virginia. 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.
West Virginia's wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative and covers the survivors' sorrow and mental anguish, the decedent's expected income and services, and medical and funeral expenses, with the decedent's own pre-death claims carried in the same recovery. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical professional liability claims where collateral-source payments also reduce the award, and prejudgment interest is available on past special damages such as medical expenses and lost wages.
West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner
Highest court: Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Federal venues: N.D.W. Va., S.D.W. Va.
West Virginia'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 West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner. Final appeals in the West Virginia court system run to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. West Virginia 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 West Virginia, for plaintiff and defense counsel alike. Every projection is anchored to the plaintiff's own records and to wage data for the area of West Virginia 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia's general-jurisdiction trial courts and, where jurisdiction allows, in the federal district courts serving West Virginia. 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia law that counsel confirms; the report is structured so each component can be included or removed.
Request a consultation on West Virginia cases or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.