KW Economics prepares lost earnings analysis for product liability cases venued in New Hampshire: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to New Hampshire damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
Product liability claims often involve an injured person whose exposure to the product bears no relation to their occupation, so the lost earnings analysis is built from that person's own path rather than from the circumstances of the injury. The economist establishes the but-for earnings base from the earnings history or, for a child, student, or homemaker, from the educational path and occupational earnings data, projects it over the applicable worklife with growth, and sets against it the post-injury path the work-capacity opinions support. In a mass tort setting the same documented method is applied to each claimant's own records so results are consistent in method and individual in result.
Past and future lost earnings and fringe benefits for a person whose injury has removed them from work or reduced what they can earn. The analysis builds from the earnings history, projects the but-for path over the person's expected worklife with wage growth, and discounts the future stream to present value. When the person can still work in a reduced capacity, the loss is framed as diminished earning capacity, with the post-injury path drawn from a vocational opinion or the treating record and offset against the but-for projection.
The exposure tracks the injury: burns, amputations, and neurological injuries produce large future earnings and care losses; less severe injuries produce a bounded past loss and limited future treatment. Because product cases often involve children, homemakers, and retirees, the household services and care components frequently outweigh the earnings loss, and the analysis must be built from those components rather than from wage records that do not exist. For fatal injuries the exposure follows the wrongful death structure with the personal consumption deduction as the key assumption.
New Hampshire courts screen expert testimony for reliability under a statutory standard: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were reliably applied to the case. A damages report is written to that inquiry, with every rate and table traced to a published source.
Highest court: New Hampshire Supreme Court. Court system: courts.state.nh.us.
Federal venues: District of New Hampshire.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the New Hampshire Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division.
New Hampshire treats a death claim as the decedent's own action carried on by the estate: recovery includes the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the probable duration of life and the capacity to earn money lost by the death, with limited separate allowances for a surviving spouse's and children's loss of comfort and society. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and interest on the award runs from the filing of the writ.
We issue the final report in disclosure-ready form and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing economic opinions, and updated calculations as new records arrive.
Product liability claims often involve an injured person whose exposure to the product bears no relation to their occupation, so the lost earnings analysis is built from that person's own path rather than from the circumstances of the injury. The economist establishes the but-for earnings base from the earnings history or, for a child, student, or homemaker, from the educational path and occupational earnings data, projects it over the applicable worklife with growth, and sets against it the post-injury path the work-capacity opinions support. In a mass tort setting the same documented method is applied to each claimant's own records so results are consistent in method and individual in result.
New Hampshire courts screen expert testimony for reliability under a statutory standard: the judge asks whether the economist is qualified, whether the opinion rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles and methods, and whether those methods were reliably applied to the case. A damages report is written to that inquiry, with every rate and table traced to a published source. Product Liability cases venued in New Hampshire are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; civil cases with jury trials, felonies), with final appeals to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of New Hampshire.
New Hampshire treats a death claim as the decedent's own action carried on by the estate: recovery includes the decedent's pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and the probable duration of life and the capacity to earn money lost by the death, with limited separate allowances for a surviving spouse's and children's loss of comfort and society. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and interest on the award runs from the filing of the writ. 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 Hampshire rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Lost Earnings or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.