Rebuttal analysis applied to traumatic brain injury litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
Brain injury damages reports carry large figures that rest on two expert inputs, residual work capacity and the level of supervision, and the review tests whether the economic report applied those inputs faithfully or substituted its own. The economist checks the but-for earnings path for a young claimant against the educational and occupational evidence, the supervision hours and rates against the plan and the market, the life expectancy against the medical opinions, and the growth and discount rates for consistency, then shows the total under the alternative scenarios the record supports.
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.
The claim consists of lost earnings and earning capacity, often a total loss when the person cannot return to competitive work or a partial loss when they can work only with supports or at a lower level; lost fringe benefits; the replacement cost of household services, including the supervision and management of daily affairs that family members now provide; and the present value of the care plan, which in serious injury includes attendant care, therapy, medication, and case management over a lifetime. The drivers are the earnings history, the neuropsychological and work-capacity opinions in the record, and a life care plan that specifies each item's frequency and duration.
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.
It traces them to the life care plan and the record. Where the economic report assumed more or fewer hours than the plan specifies, or priced them at a level of service the plan does not call for, the review states the difference and its effect on the present value.
The review checks that assumption against the work-capacity opinions and any actual post-injury earnings. Where the record supports some capacity, the review shows the loss with that capacity credited so the fact finder can see the effect of the assumption.
Request a consultation on Rebuttal or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.