KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for matters venued in Minnesota. The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the Minnesota 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 Minnesota law requires. Plaintiff and defense.
Minnesota's District Court 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 Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Workers' Compensation Division. Final appeals in the Minnesota court system run to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Minnesota is served by 1 federal district court, where the same analyses are offered under the federal expert-disclosure framework.
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.
Minnesota's wrongful death action is brought by a trustee for the pecuniary loss to the surviving spouse and next of kin, a measure the courts read to include the value of the decedent's counsel, guidance, and aid, and a personal injury claim survives to the estate only when the death was caused by something other than the injury. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the defendant's, awards are reduced after verdict by collateral-source payments except where a subrogation right exists and offset by the premiums the plaintiff paid for them, and preverdict interest runs from the commencement of the action or a written settlement demand. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Workers' Compensation Division.
Wrongful death analysis for Minnesota 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 Minnesota, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your Minnesota cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota 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 Minnesota is scheduled case by case: in the Minnesota trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving Minnesota 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 Minnesota or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.