KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for matters venued in West Virginia. The decedent's earnings and fringe benefits are projected over a documented worklife expectancy, reduced by the decedent's own personal consumption where the West Virginia 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 West Virginia law requires. Plaintiff and defense.
West Virginia's Circuit 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 West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner. Final appeals in the West Virginia court system run to the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. West Virginia is served by 2 federal district courts, 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.
West Virginia's wrongful death action is brought by the personal representative and covers the survivors' sorrow and mental anguish, the decedent's expected income and services, and medical and funeral expenses, with the decedent's own pre-death claims carried in the same recovery. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault exceeds the combined fault of the defendants, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in medical professional liability claims where collateral-source payments also reduce the award, and prejudgment interest is available on past special damages such as medical expenses and lost wages. Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner.
Wrongful death analysis for West Virginia 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 West Virginia, including the following communities.
KW Economics offers complementary services to support your West Virginia cases.
Yes. KW Economics provides wrongful death analysis for attorneys handling matters venued in West Virginia, 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 West Virginia 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 West Virginia is scheduled case by case: in the West Virginia trial courts by the case management or scheduling order, and in the federal district courts serving West Virginia 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 West Virginia or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.