KW Economics prepares rebuttal analysis for personal injury cases venued in Oklahoma: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Oklahoma damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
In a personal injury matter the opposing economic report is tested on the inputs that move a lost earnings and damages figure: the earnings base and whether it matches the tax and wage records, the worklife expectancy and its source, the wage growth and discount rates and whether they were drawn on a consistent basis, the treatment of fringe benefits and household services, and whether the post-injury path reflects the work-capacity opinions in the record or an assumption. The economist ranks each finding by its effect on the total and, where counsel asks, recalculates the opposing model under corrected inputs to show what the number becomes.
Critique of an opposing economic damages, valuation, or forensic accounting report for plaintiff or defense counsel. The review tests the assumptions, data sources, discount rates, worklife and life expectancy inputs, growth rates, mitigation treatment, and arithmetic behind the opposing number, identifies the errors that matter, and quantifies how the conclusion changes when they are corrected. The result supports cross-examination, a rebuttal report, or a motion directed at the reliability of the opinion.
Which component dominates depends on the person's age, occupation, and residual capacity. For a young worker who can no longer perform a skilled trade, future earnings loss over a long worklife usually outweighs everything else. For a person who returns to work at reduced hours or lower pay, the loss is the gap between the but-for path and the post-injury path, and the size of that gap is the contested question. Where a life care plan exists, its present value is often the largest single figure in the report, and household services losses can be substantial when the injured person did most of the home's unpaid work.
Oklahoma trial judges act as gatekeepers for expert testimony and ask whether the economist is qualified, whether the method is reliable and accepted in the profession, and whether it was applied reliably to the facts of the case. An economic damages report answers that inquiry by stating its assumptions and citing the data behind each one.
Highest court: Oklahoma Supreme Court. Court system: oscn.net.
Federal venues: Northern District of Oklahoma, Eastern District of Oklahoma, Western District of Oklahoma.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Commission.
Oklahoma's wrongful death action gathers the survivors' loss of support and companionship, grief, the decedent's pain and suffering, and medical and funeral expenses into a single recovery, and the courts have struck down a general legislative limit on noneconomic damages. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, evidence of medical expenses is limited to the amounts actually paid or owed, and prejudgment interest on a personal injury award begins to run only after a defined period following the filing of the suit.
We issue a rebuttal report where one is disclosed and provide deposition and trial testimony, cross-examination outlines, and support for motions directed at the opinion.
In a personal injury matter the opposing economic report is tested on the inputs that move a lost earnings and damages figure: the earnings base and whether it matches the tax and wage records, the worklife expectancy and its source, the wage growth and discount rates and whether they were drawn on a consistent basis, the treatment of fringe benefits and household services, and whether the post-injury path reflects the work-capacity opinions in the record or an assumption. The economist ranks each finding by its effect on the total and, where counsel asks, recalculates the opposing model under corrected inputs to show what the number becomes.
Oklahoma trial judges act as gatekeepers for expert testimony and ask whether the economist is qualified, whether the method is reliable and accepted in the profession, and whether it was applied reliably to the facts of the case. An economic damages report answers that inquiry by stating its assumptions and citing the data behind each one. Personal Injury cases venued in Oklahoma are heard in the District Court (General jurisdiction; 26 judicial districts; all civil and criminal matters), with final appeals to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the Northern District of Oklahoma, Eastern District of Oklahoma, and Western District of Oklahoma.
Oklahoma's wrongful death action gathers the survivors' loss of support and companionship, grief, the decedent's pain and suffering, and medical and funeral expenses into a single recovery, and the courts have struck down a general legislative limit on noneconomic damages. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, evidence of medical expenses is limited to the amounts actually paid or owed, and prejudgment interest on a personal injury award begins to run only after a defined period following the filing of the suit. The report presents past and future amounts separately, states every rate and table with its source, and shows the result under the alternatives the other side is likely to argue, so counsel can apply the Oklahoma rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Rebuttal or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.