KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for matters venued in Rhode Island. The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island law requires. Plaintiff and defense.
Rhode Island's Superior 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 Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court. Final appeals in the Rhode Island court system run to the Rhode Island Supreme Court. Rhode Island 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.
Rhode Island measures wrongful death by the pecuniary loss to the beneficiaries, computed from the decedent's projected earnings net of personal living expenses and reduced to present value under a method the courts have set out, together with the decedent's own pre-death claims and the survivors' loss of society and companionship, and the statute sets a minimum recovery. Pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest on tort awards runs from the date of injury, which makes the interval between injury and judgment part of the economic picture. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Rhode Island Workers' Compensation Court.
Wrongful death analysis for Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your Rhode Island cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in Rhode Island, 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island is scheduled case by case: in the Rhode Island trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.