Forensic Economics

Present value analysis of economic damages prepared efficiently, clearly, and defensibly

Stokes & Associates forensic economist shaking hands with a colleague

Life care plans and loss of earning capacity analyses may project costs or earnings years into the future. Whether and how those amounts are reduced to present value is often dictated by the judicial venue and the legal instructions applicable to the case. Specific state laws may also prescribe how economic damages are calculated, including the treatment of taxes, inflation, discount rates, collateral-source considerations, and other variables. When present-value analysis is requested or required, the economist evaluates the timing of the projected amounts and applies the legally appropriate framework together with clearly stated economic assumptions. The assumptions, sources, and calculations are identified in the economic report and may vary with the facts of the matter, the jurisdiction, and the court’s instructions.

Engaging Stokes & Associates for both the economic analysis and the vocational evaluation or life care plan can simplify the analysis timetables. Each expert independently applies the methods and standards of that expert’s discipline, identifies the information relied upon, and issues a separate opinion. This coordinated workflow can reduce duplicative exchanges and delays.

Our Forensic Economics Services

Present Value of Life Care Plans

Life care plans generally report costs in current-year dollars. When requested, the economist may project individual cost categories using stated assumptions and then discount the projected stream to present value. The resulting calculation estimates the amount corresponding to the projected care under those assumptions; actual fund performance and expenditures may differ.
Lost Earnings and Earning Capacity

We start from the vocational expert’s pre- and post-injury earning capacity. We then project the difference over the claimant’s worklife expectancy, accounting for wage growth, fringe benefits, and discounting and tax treatment where the jurisdiction requires it.
Wrongful Death

We measure the financial support and household services the family lost. That includes the decedent’s projected earnings less personal consumption, plus the value of the services the decedent would have provided.
Household Services

We value the everyday work an injured or deceased person can no longer do, such as home maintenance, meal preparation, childcare, and household management. Our life care planners and vocational experts help document what the person could do before the injury and after.
Employment Matters

Depending on the assignment and applicable legal framework, we calculate claimed back pay, front pay, and lost employment benefits in wrongful termination and employment discrimination matters using stated factual and economic assumptions.
Business Interruption and Lost Profits

We analyze lost business income and the extra cost of keeping a business running, including for business owners whose own earning capacity is affected.
Peer Review and Rebuttal

We provide independent peer review of economic reports. Depending on the issues presented and the information available, the review may address growth and discount rates, worklife expectancy, fringe benefit assumptions, the translation of vocational or medical opinions into economic inputs, internal consistency, and potential calculation inaccuracies. The scope and limitations of the review are identified for each engagement.

How We Work

Each engagement begins with a Request for Services interview to define the economist’s role and confirm the deadlines. The economist works directly with the case’s life care planner or vocational expert. A dedicated Forensic Economics Case Manager and Administrative Assistant serve as your day-to-day contacts through report and testimony.

Our economist does not offer opinions on a worker’s skills or employability. Those opinions come from the vocational expert or are identified as assumptions provided to the economist. Separating the disciplines clarifies the source, scope, and basis of each opinion.

Testimony Experience

Our economists have testified in U.S. District Courts and in state courts in Alabama, Colorado, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Texas, and West Virginia, for both plaintiffs and defendants.