Rebuttal analysis applied to workers' compensation litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
In a workers' compensation setting the opposing analysis may value future indemnity for a settlement, measure loss of earning capacity for the benefit determination, or present the full loss in a third-party action, and the review checks that the report answered the question the setting actually asks. The economist tests the pre-injury wage base against the employer's records, the post-injury earnings path against the work-capacity opinions, the mortality and discount assumptions behind any indemnity present value, and whether benefits already paid are identified so lien and offset questions can be addressed from the same numbers.
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.
Depending on the setting, the claim consists of the present value of future indemnity payments under the schedule that applies, the wage loss or reduced earning capacity that benefits are meant to replace, the lost fringe benefits and household services that the compensation system does not pay but a third-party claim may, and the present value of future medical treatment where a settlement closes future medical liability. The drivers are the pre-injury wage records, the carrier's payment history, the post-injury earnings if any, the work-capacity opinions in the record, and the treatment projection when future medical is being valued.
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.
The payment stream and its schedule, the mortality or life expectancy assumption, the discount rate and its source, and whether future medical was valued on a documented treatment projection. The review shows the value under the alternatives so both sides negotiate from a documented range.
It identifies which measure the opposing report applied and whether the components presented belong to that measure, and it separates the amounts the compensation system pays from those a civil claim adds so the two are not mixed.
Request a consultation on Rebuttal or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.