KW Economics prepares personal injury economic damages analysis for personal injury cases venued in South Carolina: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to South Carolina damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
The integrated economic damages report brings every component of a personal injury claim into one document: past and future lost earnings, lost fringe benefits, the replacement cost of household services, and the present value of future medical and care costs from a life care plan or treating recommendations. The economist builds each component from its own records, then carries all of them to a single present value with the same worklife, life expectancy, growth, and discount assumptions, so the pieces reconcile and counsel can present the damages as a whole or by component. Contested assumptions are shown as sensitivity ranges.
An integrated economic damages report for an injured person: lost earnings and fringe benefits, lost household services, and the present value of future medical and care costs supplied by treating providers or a life care plan. One report carries every economic component to a single present value with consistent growth, discount, and life expectancy assumptions, so counsel can present the damages as a whole and the jury sees one set of numbers.
Which component dominates depends on the person's age, occupation, and residual capacity. For a young worker who can no longer perform a skilled trade, future earnings loss over a long worklife usually outweighs everything else. For a person who returns to work at reduced hours or lower pay, the loss is the gap between the but-for path and the post-injury path, and the size of that gap is the contested question. Where a life care plan exists, its present value is often the largest single figure in the report, and household services losses can be substantial when the injured person did most of the home's unpaid work.
South Carolina courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable basis, and whether it will assist the fact finder, under a reliability inquiry of the state's own that does not adopt the federal test. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record.
Highest court: Supreme Court of South Carolina. Court system: sccourts.org.
Federal venues: District of South Carolina.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission.
South Carolina pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, mental shock, wounded feelings, and loss of companionship with a survival action for the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, both brought by the personal representative. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing economic reports, and recalculation when the life care plan or the medical record is updated.
The integrated economic damages report brings every component of a personal injury claim into one document: past and future lost earnings, lost fringe benefits, the replacement cost of household services, and the present value of future medical and care costs from a life care plan or treating recommendations. The economist builds each component from its own records, then carries all of them to a single present value with the same worklife, life expectancy, growth, and discount assumptions, so the pieces reconcile and counsel can present the damages as a whole or by component. Contested assumptions are shown as sensitivity ranges.
South Carolina courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the opinion rests on a reliable basis, and whether it will assist the fact finder, under a reliability inquiry of the state's own that does not adopt the federal test. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by showing the published basis for each assumption and its application to the record. Personal Injury cases venued in South Carolina are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies; two divisions, Common Pleas for civil and General Sessions for criminal matters), with final appeals to the Supreme Court of South Carolina. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of South Carolina.
South Carolina pairs a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss, mental shock, wounded feelings, and loss of companionship with a survival action for the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, both brought by the personal representative. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical malpractice claims while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums. 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 South Carolina rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Personal Injury or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.