The Expert Witness Checklist: What Your Forensic Economist Needs to Build a Defensible Report

When retained as a forensic economist to calculate economic damages in personal injury, wrongful death, or wrongful termination cases, the first question I am often asked by retaining counsel is simple: "What do you need from me to get started?"

A forensic economic report is only as strong as the underlying data supporting it. Incomplete or delayed documentation doesn't just slow down the litigation process, it exposes your damages report to aggressive cross-examination and can lead to unnecessary expert fee inflation.

To help streamline your discovery and expert retention process, here is a complete, publication-ready guide to the documents and parameters your economic expert needs to deliver a trial-ready, highly defensible valuation.

1. The Core Foundation (Required for Every Case Type)

Regardless of whether your matter involves a motor vehicle accident, a fatal incident, or an employment dispute, every economic damages report begins with establishing a baseline for earning capacity and demographic parameters.

Personal & Case Demographics

• Key Dates: Date of birth, date of incident/termination, and the expected date of trial or resolution.

• Jurisdictional Venue: State and venue details (to determine local legal mandates regarding discounting rates, tax neutralizations, or collateral source rules).

• Life and Worklife Expectancy Inputs: Health status prior to the incident, gender, educational attainment, and anticipated retirement timeline absent the event.

Pre-Incident Historical Earnings

• Tax Documents: Complete Federal and State individual tax returns (Form 1040) with all attached schedules for 3 to 5 years prior to the incident.

• Wage Statements: W-2s, 1099s, and the final year-to-date pay subs immediately preceding the event.

• For Self-Employed Plaintiffs: Business tax returns (Form 1120, 1120-S, or 1065), Schedule C filings, profit-and-loss (P&L) statements, and business entity agreements.

Fringe Benefits & Background Credentials

• Benefit Packages: Documentation detailing employer health insurance contributions, 401(k) or pension matching structures, union benefit schedules, and profit-sharing agreements.

• Professional History: Plaintiff/decedent resume/CV, professional licenses or certifications, and historical performance evaluations.

2. Case-Specific Document Requirements

While baseline financial records establish pre-incident earning capacity, each specific cause of action requires specialized documentation to calculate net economics losses.

A. Personal Injury Cases: Proving Earnings Capacity Loss & Future Care Costs

In personal injury litigation, the primary focus is establishing the delta between pre-injury earning potential and post-injury residual earning capacity.

• Vocational Evaluation Reports: Expert findings detailing post-injury residual earning capacity, labor market access, required retraining, and specific workplace limitations.

• Medical & Functional Capacity Evaluations (FCE): Physician notes, disability ratings, and FCE reports outlining cognitive or physical restrictions impacting work capacity.

• Life Care Plans (LCP): Itemized reports from a qualified Life Care Planner detailing projected future medical treatment, medications, therapies, equipment, home modifications, and care services, along with projected frequencies and duration.

• Post-Injury Financial Records: Post-incident pay stubs, W-2s, or tax filings detailing any actual earnings generated since the injury.

• Social Security Earnings History: Full earnings records with the Social Security Administration (available for Plaintiff to download with an account).

B. Wrongful Death Cases: Calculating Net Loss to Beneficiaries

In wrongful death matters, economic damages represent the financial support and household services lost by surviving dependents, requiring a deduction for the decedent's personal consumption/maintenance.

• Personal Consumption & Household Expense Evidence: Information on the decedent's individual spending habits (budge details, bank statements, or family expenses sharing) to establish a reasonable personal consumption deduction.

• Dependent Information: Names, dates of birth, and dependency status of the surviving spouse, minor children, dependent parents.

• Lost Household Services Inventory: Detailed breakdown of domestic duties historically performed by the decedent and the estimated hours or replacement costs required to fulfill those tasks.

C. Wrongful Termination Cases: Evaluating Front/Back Pay & Mitigation

In employment cases, economic loss centers on back pay, front pay, lost benefits, and the plaintiff's duty to mitigate damages.

• Mitigation Evidence: Post-termination pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns, and comprehensive logs documenting active job search efforts (e.g., applications submitted, interview records).

• Severance & Benefits Disclosures: Terms of any severance package received, severance agreements, and state unemployment compensation payouts.

• Unvested Equity & Deferred Compensation: Grant agreements and vesting schedules for stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs), profit-sharing, or unvested pension rights lost as a result of termination.

• Company Policy Documentation: Employee handbooks, compensation plans, and promotion guidelines outlining expected salary bands, incentive structures, and bonus policies.

3. Legal Guidelines & Key Testimony Transcripts

To ensure the economic analysis aligns with legal strategy and evidence submitted at trial, please also provide:

• Jurisdictional Mandates: Guidance on local statutory requirements, such as whether a net discount rate is mandated or if future losses must be calculated gross or net of taxes.

• Deposition Transcripts: Kay testimony from the plaintiff, vocational experts, life care planners, corporate representatives, or supervisors.

Streamline Your Economic Damages Evaluation

Providing complete documentation the outset of expert retention accelerates report turnaround, minimized back-and-forth discovery requests, and ensures a solid foundation for settlement negotiations or trial testimony.

Preparing a complex damages case? Contact our office today to discuss your case parameters or to request a conflicts check.