Rebuttal analysis applied to wrongful death litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
A wrongful death report is tested on the assumptions that scale the whole figure: the personal consumption deduction and its source, the earnings base and worklife applied to the decedent, the household services hours and rates, the periods of dependency assigned to each survivor, and whether the components presented match the framework that governs the claim. The economist checks each input against the records and published data, identifies double counting between household services and support, and quantifies how the conclusion changes when the errors that matter are corrected.
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 components are the decedent's lost earnings and fringe benefits over a projected worklife, a personal consumption deduction that removes the portion of income the decedent would have spent on themselves, the replacement value of household services the decedent provided, lost financial support to dependents measured over each dependent's period of dependency, and in some frameworks the accumulation the decedent would have left to the estate. The records that drive the analysis are the decedent's tax returns, wage and benefit records, the household's composition and expenditures, and documentation of the services and care the decedent provided at home.
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.
Because it scales the entire earnings figure. A deduction drawn from the wrong household size or income level, or omitted where the framework requires it, changes the total more than most other inputs. The review states the percentage the data support and shows the effect.
It identifies which components the opposing report presents and to whom they are attributed, so counsel can address whether each is recoverable under the governing framework. The economist does not opine on the law; the report shows the figure with and without each component.
Request a consultation on Rebuttal or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.