KW Economics prepares household services analysis for motor vehicle accident cases venued in New Mexico: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to New Mexico damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
Motor vehicle accident claims produce household services losses ranging from a few months of replaced tasks during recovery to a permanent reduction after a catastrophic injury. The economist measures the hours the person could not perform during recovery from the household's account and time-use data, values them at replacement cost, and, where the injury leaves a permanent limitation, apportions the ongoing loss by category and projects it over the person's expected life with growth and discounting. The report presents the recovery period and the permanent loss separately so the same analysis serves settlement evaluation and trial.
Replacement-cost valuation of the household production an injured or deceased person can no longer provide: meal preparation, cleaning, home and vehicle maintenance, shopping, child care, and care of other household members. The hours are drawn from national time-use data adjusted to the person's household composition and pre-injury role, and each category is priced at the local wage for the occupation that would replace it, then projected and discounted over the period of loss.
In moderate injury the exposure is concentrated in the period out of work and any future surgery or treatment, and the numbers can usually be built directly from the records. Once an injury prevents a return to the prior occupation, the future earnings gap across the remaining worklife becomes the dominant figure, and in catastrophic injury the present value of attendant care and equipment in the life care plan can exceed the earnings loss. Policy limits often frame the practical range, so counsel commonly ask for a report that presents each component separately for settlement evaluation and for trial.
New Mexico courts ask the trial judge to act as gatekeeper for expert testimony, examining 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. A damages report answers those questions by stating its assumptions and citing its sources.
Highest court: New Mexico Supreme Court. Court system: nmcourts.gov.
Federal venues: District of New Mexico.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the New Mexico Workers' Compensation Administration.
New Mexico measures wrongful death by the worth of the decedent's life from the decedent's own standpoint, a recovery that belongs to the estate and includes lost earnings, the value of the decedent's life apart from earnings, and the decedent's own pre-death damages, with loss of consortium brought separately by close family. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest is discretionary and weighs each party's settlement conduct.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony and rebuttal of opposing household services opinions.
Motor vehicle accident claims produce household services losses ranging from a few months of replaced tasks during recovery to a permanent reduction after a catastrophic injury. The economist measures the hours the person could not perform during recovery from the household's account and time-use data, values them at replacement cost, and, where the injury leaves a permanent limitation, apportions the ongoing loss by category and projects it over the person's expected life with growth and discounting. The report presents the recovery period and the permanent loss separately so the same analysis serves settlement evaluation and trial.
New Mexico courts ask the trial judge to act as gatekeeper for expert testimony, examining 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. A damages report answers those questions by stating its assumptions and citing its sources. Motor Vehicle Accident cases venued in New Mexico are heard in the District Court (General jurisdiction; 13 judicial districts; all civil, criminal, and domestic matters) and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court (Largest limited jurisdiction court; covers Albuquerque), with final appeals to the New Mexico Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of New Mexico.
New Mexico measures wrongful death by the worth of the decedent's life from the decedent's own standpoint, a recovery that belongs to the estate and includes lost earnings, the value of the decedent's life apart from earnings, and the decedent's own pre-death damages, with loss of consortium brought separately by close family. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest is discretionary and weighs each party's settlement conduct. 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 New Mexico rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Household Services or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.