KW Economics prepares household services analysis for personal injury cases venued in Maine: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Maine damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
In a personal injury claim the household services loss is measured from the difference between the household work the person did before the injury and what they can do now. The economist draws the pre-injury hours from national time-use data for a person of the same age, sex, employment status, and household composition, adjusted to the household's own account, apportions the loss by category using the medical restrictions in the record, and prices each category at the local wage for the occupation that would replace it. The loss is projected over the period of limitation, or over life expectancy where the limitation is permanent, and discounted to present value.
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.
Which component dominates depends on the person's age, occupation, and residual capacity. For a young worker who can no longer perform a skilled trade, future earnings loss over a long worklife usually outweighs everything else. For a person who returns to work at reduced hours or lower pay, the loss is the gap between the but-for path and the post-injury path, and the size of that gap is the contested question. Where a life care plan exists, its present value is often the largest single figure in the report, and household services losses can be substantial when the injured person did most of the home's unpaid work.
Maine courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable foundation, and whether it will help the fact finder, under the state's own reliability inquiry. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its fit with the record.
Highest court: Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Court system: courts.maine.gov.
Federal venues: District of Maine.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Maine Workers' Compensation Board.
Maine's wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative for the beneficiaries' pecuniary injuries, with separate and limited allowances for loss of comfort, society, and companionship, alongside a survival action for the estate. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds the defendants', the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest runs from the filing of the notice of claim or complaint.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony and rebuttal of opposing household services opinions.
In a personal injury claim the household services loss is measured from the difference between the household work the person did before the injury and what they can do now. The economist draws the pre-injury hours from national time-use data for a person of the same age, sex, employment status, and household composition, adjusted to the household's own account, apportions the loss by category using the medical restrictions in the record, and prices each category at the local wage for the occupation that would replace it. The loss is projected over the period of limitation, or over life expectancy where the limitation is permanent, and discounted to present value.
Maine courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable foundation, and whether it will help the fact finder, under the state's own reliability inquiry. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its fit with the record. Personal Injury cases venued in Maine are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; civil cases, jury trials in major criminal cases), with final appeals to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Maine.
Maine's wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative for the beneficiaries' pecuniary injuries, with separate and limited allowances for loss of comfort, society, and companionship, alongside a survival action for the estate. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault equals or exceeds the defendants', the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest runs from the filing of the notice of claim or complaint. 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 Maine rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Household Services or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.