KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for spinal cord injury cases venued in Oregon: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Oregon damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
A spinal cord injury life care plan carries attendant care, wheelchair and equipment replacement cycles, supplies, home and vehicle modifications, and periodic hospitalization for complications, each with its own frequency, replacement interval, and cost category. The economist schedules each replacement at the interval the plan specifies, grows each item at the rate appropriate to its category, discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, and presents home-based and facility-based care scenarios when the plan offers both. The report lists the replacement schedule so counsel can see how many cycles the horizon contains.
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.
The present value of attendant care over a lifetime is usually the largest figure, followed by future lost earnings for a person injured early in a working life. Equipment costs recur on replacement cycles and are sensitive to the cost growth rate applied, and home and vehicle modifications add one-time and recurring items. Because the level of injury determines attendant care hours and the person's capacity for alternative work, the report's total moves with those inputs, and the life expectancy the medical evidence supports sets the horizon for every stream.
Oregon courts apply a multi-factor reliability inquiry of their own to expert testimony, asking whether the method is accepted in the profession, whether it has been tested and reviewed, and whether the economist applied it to the facts of the case, with qualification resting on training and experience. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its fit with the record.
Highest court: Oregon Supreme Court. Court system: courts.oregon.gov.
Federal venues: District of Oregon.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Oregon Workers' Compensation Division.
Oregon's wrongful death statute gathers the estate's and the beneficiaries' claims into one action brought by the personal representative: the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, and their loss of society and companionship. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the court may reduce an award after verdict by collateral-source payments other than insurance the plaintiff purchased, federal benefits, and sources with a reimbursement right, and prejudgment interest is generally not available on unliquidated injury damages.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
A spinal cord injury life care plan carries attendant care, wheelchair and equipment replacement cycles, supplies, home and vehicle modifications, and periodic hospitalization for complications, each with its own frequency, replacement interval, and cost category. The economist schedules each replacement at the interval the plan specifies, grows each item at the rate appropriate to its category, discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, and presents home-based and facility-based care scenarios when the plan offers both. The report lists the replacement schedule so counsel can see how many cycles the horizon contains.
Oregon courts apply a multi-factor reliability inquiry of their own to expert testimony, asking whether the method is accepted in the profession, whether it has been tested and reviewed, and whether the economist applied it to the facts of the case, with qualification resting on training and experience. A damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its fit with the record. Spinal Cord Injury cases venued in Oregon are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; 27 judicial districts; civil, criminal, family, and probate matters), with final appeals to the Oregon Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Oregon.
Oregon's wrongful death statute gathers the estate's and the beneficiaries' claims into one action brought by the personal representative: the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, and their loss of society and companionship. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the court may reduce an award after verdict by collateral-source payments other than insurance the plaintiff purchased, federal benefits, and sources with a reimbursement right, and prejudgment interest is generally not available on unliquidated injury damages. 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 Oregon rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.