KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for medical malpractice cases venued in New York: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to New York damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
In a medical malpractice matter the life care plan often distinguishes the incremental care the injury requires from the care the underlying condition would have required anyway, and the present value must respect that line. The economist values the incremental items only, applies category-specific medical cost growth, and discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, which may already have been reduced by the condition being treated. Where the physicians disagree on life expectancy or on which items are incremental, the report presents the present value under each scenario so the fact finder can attach the number to its finding.
Reduction of a life care plan's line items to a single present value. The plan's items, frequencies, durations, and unit costs are carried forward with medical cost growth appropriate to each category, then discounted over the applicable life expectancy. Plan authorship stays with the life care planner; our role is the economic translation of the plan into a damages figure that reconciles with the plan and can be examined item by item.
Because the underlying condition often affected work capacity or life expectancy on its own, the apportionment between the injury and the pre-existing condition is usually the most contested assumption and the one that most changes the total. In cases of permanent disability the incremental care costs and the earnings loss are both large and run across a long horizon, and the life expectancy used for each stream is a second point of contention. In delayed-diagnosis cases the loss may be measured as the difference between two outcome paths, each with its own earnings and care profile.
New York courts ask whether the methodology behind an expert opinion is generally accepted in the relevant professional community and, separately, whether the economist applied it reliably to the facts of the case; qualification rests on training and experience. Forensic economic methods for lost earnings, household services, and present value are published and long used, so the examination of a damages report usually turns on its inputs and their support in the record.
Highest court: Court of Appeals. Court system: iapps.courts.state.ny.us.
Federal venues: Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, Western District of New York.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the New York State Workers' Compensation Board.
New York's wrongful death recovery has long been measured by the pecuniary injuries to the distributees, which puts lost earnings, lost household services, and the value of parental guidance at the center of the case, while the decedent's conscious pain and suffering is recovered in a survival claim by the estate. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, awards are reduced after trial by collateral-source payments that replace a cost or expense the jury awarded, larger future damage awards are converted to structured payments by the court, and prejudgment interest in a wrongful death action runs from the date of death.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
The same four steps apply to a medical malpractice case venued in New York; the damages framework above decides which components enter the total. State the but-for path the causation opinions support: what the patient would have earned, for how long, and what care the underlying condition would have required regardless. Build the injured path from actual post-injury earnings, the work-capacity opinions, and the incremental care plan. Measure each component as the difference between the two paths, projected over the applicable life or worklife expectancy with stated growth. Discount the streams to present value and present the loss under each apportionment or life expectancy scenario the physicians offer.
New York courts ask whether the methodology behind an expert opinion is generally accepted in the relevant professional community and, separately, whether the economist applied it reliably to the facts of the case; qualification rests on training and experience. Forensic economic methods for lost earnings, household services, and present value are published and long used, so the examination of a damages report usually turns on its inputs and their support in the record. Medical Malpractice cases venued in New York are heard in the Supreme Court (General jurisdiction trial court for major civil cases and felonies; one in each county), the County Court (Outside New York City; felonies and mid-sized civil cases), and the Court of Claims (Claims against New York State), with final appeals to the Court of Appeals. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York, Northern District of New York, and Western District of New York.
New York's wrongful death recovery has long been measured by the pecuniary injuries to the distributees, which puts lost earnings, lost household services, and the value of parental guidance at the center of the case, while the decedent's conscious pain and suffering is recovered in a survival claim by the estate. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, awards are reduced after trial by collateral-source payments that replace a cost or expense the jury awarded, larger future damage awards are converted to structured payments by the court, and prejudgment interest in a wrongful death action runs from the date of death. 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 York rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.