KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for matters venued in Vermont. The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the Vermont 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 Vermont law requires. Plaintiff and defense.
Vermont'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 Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division. Final appeals in the Vermont court system run to the Vermont Supreme Court. Vermont 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.
Vermont provides a wrongful death action, brought by the personal representative for the pecuniary injuries to the spouse and next of kin, which the courts read to include the loss of the decedent's companionship and care, alongside a survival action for the decedent's own claims. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, the common-law collateral source rule applies, and prejudgment interest is generally awarded only on liquidated sums or in the court's discretion. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Vermont Department of Labor, Workers' Compensation Division.
Wrongful death analysis for Vermont 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 Vermont, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your Vermont cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in Vermont, 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 Vermont 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 Vermont is scheduled case by case: in the Vermont trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving Vermont 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 Vermont or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.