KW Economics prepares wrongful death analysis for product liability cases venued in Missouri: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Missouri damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
When a product causes a death, the economic claim follows the wrongful death structure with the personal consumption deduction as the key assumption. Because product cases often involve children, homemakers, and retirees, the household services and support components frequently carry more of the loss than the earnings component, and the economist builds the analysis from the household's account and time-use data where wage records do not exist. Earnings for a child or student are projected from the educational path and occupational data, personal consumption from household expenditure data adjusted to the household, and each survivor's loss is discounted to present value.
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.
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.
Missouri courts screen expert testimony for reliability: 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 meets that inquiry by stating its assumptions and naming the source of every rate and table.
Highest court: Missouri Supreme Court. Court system: courts.mo.gov.
Federal venues: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Missouri Division of Workers' Compensation.
Missouri pairs a wrongful death action for the survivors' pecuniary losses, services, companionship, and the decedent's pre-death suffering with a survival action where death resulted from another cause, and the value of medical treatment is proved by the amounts actually paid or still owed rather than the amounts billed. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule otherwise applies, and prejudgment interest in tort turns on a written settlement offer that the judgment then exceeds.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing opinions, and supplemental calculations if the framework or the record changes.
When a product causes a death, the economic claim follows the wrongful death structure with the personal consumption deduction as the key assumption. Because product cases often involve children, homemakers, and retirees, the household services and support components frequently carry more of the loss than the earnings component, and the economist builds the analysis from the household's account and time-use data where wage records do not exist. Earnings for a child or student are projected from the educational path and occupational data, personal consumption from household expenditure data adjusted to the household, and each survivor's loss is discounted to present value.
Missouri courts screen expert testimony for reliability: 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 meets that inquiry by stating its assumptions and naming the source of every rate and table. Product Liability cases venued in Missouri are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; 46 judicial circuits; all civil, criminal, domestic, and probate matters), with final appeals to the Missouri Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the Eastern District of Missouri and Western District of Missouri.
Missouri pairs a wrongful death action for the survivors' pecuniary losses, services, companionship, and the decedent's pre-death suffering with a survival action where death resulted from another cause, and the value of medical treatment is proved by the amounts actually paid or still owed rather than the amounts billed. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule otherwise applies, and prejudgment interest in tort turns on a written settlement offer that the judgment then exceeds. 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 Missouri rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Wrongful Death or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.