KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for motor vehicle accident cases venued in Colorado: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Colorado damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
After a catastrophic crash the present value of the life care plan can exceed the earnings loss, and the attendant care, equipment, and future surgery items in the plan drive the total. The economist reduces the plan to present value with category-specific medical cost growth over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, presents the total under alternative care scenarios where the plan offers them, and states every assumption so the valuation can be examined item by item. Because policy limits often frame the practical range, the report shows the plan's present value by category so counsel can evaluate settlement against the components that carry the most weight.
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.
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.
Colorado applies a liberal but reliability-based inquiry: the trial court asks whether the economist's principles are reasonably reliable, whether the witness is qualified to apply them, and whether the testimony will help the jury, without requiring general acceptance. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record.
Highest court: Colorado Supreme Court. Court system: courts.state.co.us.
Federal venues: District of Colorado.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Colorado Division of Workers' Compensation.
Colorado's wrongful death action is measured by the net pecuniary loss to the heirs plus a limited allowance for grief, while the survival action for the estate excludes the decedent's pain and suffering. Awards are reduced after verdict by collateral-source payments other than benefits the plaintiff paid for by contract, recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault reaches half, and prejudgment interest on personal injury awards runs from the date the claim accrued.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
After a catastrophic crash the present value of the life care plan can exceed the earnings loss, and the attendant care, equipment, and future surgery items in the plan drive the total. The economist reduces the plan to present value with category-specific medical cost growth over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, presents the total under alternative care scenarios where the plan offers them, and states every assumption so the valuation can be examined item by item. Because policy limits often frame the practical range, the report shows the plan's present value by category so counsel can evaluate settlement against the components that carry the most weight.
Colorado applies a liberal but reliability-based inquiry: the trial court asks whether the economist's principles are reasonably reliable, whether the witness is qualified to apply them, and whether the testimony will help the jury, without requiring general acceptance. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record. Motor Vehicle Accident cases venued in Colorado are heard in the District Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies, domestic relations, probate), with final appeals to the Colorado Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Colorado.
Colorado's wrongful death action is measured by the net pecuniary loss to the heirs plus a limited allowance for grief, while the survival action for the estate excludes the decedent's pain and suffering. Awards are reduced after verdict by collateral-source payments other than benefits the plaintiff paid for by contract, recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault reaches half, and prejudgment interest on personal injury awards runs from the date the claim accrued. 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 Colorado rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.