KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for matters venued in American Samoa. The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the American Samoa measure of damages calls for it, and combined with the replacement cost of the household services the decedent would have provided. Each stream is discounted to present value, and the report keeps the components separate so counsel can include or remove any of them as American Samoa law requires. Plaintiff and defense.
The High Court of American Samoa (Trial Division) is the primary trial-level forum for the personal injury, wrongful death, employment, and commercial damages claims these analyses support. Workers' compensation claims, where the dispute is over wage-loss benefits rather than tort damages, are administered by the American Samoa Workmen's Compensation Commission. Final appeals in the American Samoa court system run to the High Court of American Samoa, Appellate Division.
The economic loss to survivors when a wage earner or homemaker dies: the decedent's lost earnings and fringe benefits net of personal consumption, the household services the decedent would have provided, and the financial support that would have flowed to dependents. Which elements are recoverable, and whether the loss is measured to the estate or to the survivors, vary by state, so the analysis is structured to the framework counsel identifies and every assumption is stated so it can be examined.
In American Samoa, a wrongful death action for the beneficiaries' pecuniary loss and a survival action for the decedent's own claims are heard by the Trial Division of the High Court, and the small on-island wage market means an earnings history often includes government, cannery, or off-island employment. The rules on fault allocation, collateral-source payments, and prejudgment interest follow the territory's own code and case law, which counsel should confirm for the specific claim. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the American Samoa Workmen's Compensation Commission.
Wrongful death analysis for American Samoa matters is directed by Christopher Skerritt, M.Ed., MBA, Chief of Economic Services, who is available to testify to it.
Our experts serve clients throughout American Samoa, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your American Samoa cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in American Samoa, for plaintiff and defense counsel, with the analysis sized to the engagement scope and built from the records that drive the claim and from data for the American Samoa market rather than from national averages.
A complete engagement typically includes a records request tailored to the claim (the decedent's tax returns, pay and benefit records, and the household's composition and routine), a review of the record and the pleadings, a written statement of assumptions, a report that presents each loss component and its present value, review and rebuttal of any opposing report, and deposition and trial testimony when required. Scope and turnaround are calibrated to the case posture and the governing disclosure framework.
Expert disclosure in American Samoa is scheduled case by case: in the American Samoa trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving American Samoa by the federal expert-disclosure framework, under which the written report, the materials considered, and the testimony history are served together. KW Economics confirms the disclosure date at retention and sizes the records request and turnaround to it; counsel confirms the governing deadline for the case.
Request a consultation on Wrongful Death in American Samoa or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.