KW Economics provides household services analysis for matters venued in the District of Columbia. The hours the injured or deceased person devoted to meal preparation, cleaning, home and vehicle maintenance, shopping, and the care of others are drawn from national time-use data adjusted to the household's own composition and routine, priced at the wage a replacement worker earns for each task in the area of the District of Columbia where the household lives, carried over the relevant life or worklife expectancy, and discounted to present value. Plaintiff and defense.
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia is the primary trial-level forum for the personal injury, wrongful death, employment, and commercial damages claims these analyses support. Workers' compensation claims, where the dispute is over wage-loss benefits rather than tort damages, are administered by the DC Department of Employment Services, Office of Workers' Compensation. Final appeals in the District of Columbia court system run to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The District of Columbia is served by 1 federal district court, where the same analyses are offered under the federal expert-disclosure framework.
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.
The District pairs a wrongful death action for the pecuniary loss to the spouse and next of kin with a survival action in which the estate recovers the decedent's probable future earnings net of personal maintenance, and the two recoveries are coordinated to prevent double counting. Contributory negligence remains a complete bar in most cases, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest on unliquidated damages is discretionary. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the DC Department of Employment Services, Office of Workers' Compensation.
Household services analysis for District of Columbia matters is directed by Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services, who is available to testify to it.
Our experts serve clients throughout the District of Columbia, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your District of Columbia cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides household services analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in the District of Columbia, for plaintiff and defense counsel, with the analysis sized to the engagement scope and built from the records that drive the claim and from data for the District of Columbia market rather than from national averages.
A complete engagement typically includes a records request tailored to the claim (the household's composition, the person's pre-injury routine, and any records of paid help), a review of the record and the pleadings, a written statement of assumptions, a report that presents each loss component and its present value, review and rebuttal of any opposing report, and deposition and trial testimony when required. Scope and turnaround are calibrated to the case posture and the governing disclosure framework.
Expert disclosure in the District of Columbia is scheduled case by case: in the District of Columbia trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving the District of Columbia by the federal expert-disclosure framework, under which the written report, the materials considered, and the testimony history are served together. KW Economics confirms the disclosure date at retention and sizes the records request and turnaround to it; counsel confirms the governing deadline for the case.
Request a consultation on Household Services in the District of Columbia or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.