Lost earnings analysis applied to wrongful death litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
When the injured person has died, the lost earnings analysis becomes the earnings component of the wrongful death claim: the decedent's earnings and fringe benefits projected over a worklife expectancy with wage growth, reduced by the share the decedent would have consumed personally where the governing framework requires it, and discounted to present value. The economist builds the earnings base from the decedent's tax returns and wage records or, where a career was interrupted early, from occupational data for the path the decedent was on. The component is presented so it can be combined with household services and support to dependents in the full wrongful death analysis or stand alone where the framework measures the loss to the estate.
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 components are the decedent's lost earnings and fringe benefits over a projected worklife, a personal consumption deduction that removes the portion of income the decedent would have spent on themselves, the replacement value of household services the decedent provided, lost financial support to dependents measured over each dependent's period of dependency, and in some frameworks the accumulation the decedent would have left to the estate. The records that drive the analysis are the decedent's tax returns, wage and benefit records, the household's composition and expenditures, and documentation of the services and care the decedent provided at home.
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.
In two ways. There is no post-injury path to offset, so the loss is the full projected earnings stream, and a personal consumption deduction removes the share of income the decedent would have spent on personal needs where the framework requires it. The report shows the figure before and after the deduction.
The earnings base is reconstructed from business tax returns, financial statements, invoices, and bank records, separating the decedent's labor from the return on capital in the business. Where the history is short, occupational earnings data for comparable work supplements the record, and the reconstruction method is stated.
Request a consultation on Lost Earnings or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.