KW Economics prepares rebuttal analysis for traumatic brain injury cases venued in Arkansas: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Arkansas damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
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.
Two components usually dominate: future lost earnings across a long worklife for a young person, and the present value of attendant care and supervision when the plan calls for daily hours of paid help. Because the level of supervision and the person's residual work capacity are both matters of expert opinion, the report's total is highly sensitive to those inputs, and the life expectancy used for the care stream is a second source of dispute. Mild injury with persistent symptoms presents a narrower claim built on reduced hours, lost advancement, and periodic treatment.
Arkansas trial courts act as gatekeepers and ask whether the economist's method is reliable, whether it has been tested and accepted in the profession, and whether it fits the facts of the case, with qualification resting on training and experience. A report that states its assumptions and cites its data sources answers those questions on its face.
Highest court: Arkansas Supreme Court. Court system: courts.arkansas.gov.
Federal venues: Eastern District of Arkansas, Western District of Arkansas.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Arkansas Workers' Compensation Commission.
Arkansas allows a wrongful death action for the statutory beneficiaries' pecuniary loss and mental anguish alongside a survival action for the estate, and the state constitution bars limits on the amount recoverable for injury or death. Recovery is barred only when the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds the defendants', the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest is available where the amount of the loss was determinable at the time of the injury.
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.
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.
Arkansas trial courts act as gatekeepers and ask whether the economist's method is reliable, whether it has been tested and accepted in the profession, and whether it fits the facts of the case, with qualification resting on training and experience. A report that states its assumptions and cites its data sources answers those questions on its face. Traumatic Brain Injury cases venued in Arkansas are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; civil, criminal, domestic, probate, and juvenile matters), with final appeals to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the Eastern District of Arkansas and Western District of Arkansas.
Arkansas allows a wrongful death action for the statutory beneficiaries' pecuniary loss and mental anguish alongside a survival action for the estate, and the state constitution bars limits on the amount recoverable for injury or death. Recovery is barred only when the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds the defendants', the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest is available where the amount of the loss was determinable at the time of the injury. 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 Arkansas rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Rebuttal or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.