KW Economics prepares lost earnings analysis for product liability cases venued in Puerto Rico: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Puerto Rico 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.
Puerto Rico's rules of evidence follow the federal model for expert testimony: the court 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 meets that inquiry by naming its sources and tying each assumption to the record, in the language the court requires.
Highest court: Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico).
Federal venues: District of Puerto Rico.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Puerto Rico State Insurance Fund Corporation (CFSE).
Puerto Rico's civil-law tort system gives each surviving relative a claim of their own for the death of a family member, covering their own economic loss and suffering, alongside the estate's inherited claim for the decedent's pre-death damages. Comparative fault reduces recovery in proportion, private-party damages are not subject to a general statutory limit, and interest can be imposed on the award when a party is found to have litigated with obstinacy.
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.
Puerto Rico's rules of evidence follow the federal model for expert testimony: the court 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 meets that inquiry by naming its sources and tying each assumption to the record, in the language the court requires. Product Liability cases venued in Puerto Rico are heard in the Court of First Instance (Tribunal de Primera Instancia) (General jurisdiction trial court of the Commonwealth, organized into Superior and Municipal divisions; hears civil and criminal matters), with final appeals to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico (Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico). Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rico's civil-law tort system gives each surviving relative a claim of their own for the death of a family member, covering their own economic loss and suffering, alongside the estate's inherited claim for the decedent's pre-death damages. Comparative fault reduces recovery in proportion, private-party damages are not subject to a general statutory limit, and interest can be imposed on the award when a party is found to have litigated with obstinacy. 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 Puerto Rico rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Lost Earnings or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.