Method For Calculating Reasonable Aggregate Range Estimates in Life Care Plan Analysis and Other Forensic Economic Applications

A life care plan often analyzes needs up to a person's life expectancy. Expected present value of necessary funding for such a plan is likewise based on the fixed survival time. If a client should live beyond or die before the life expectancy, a shortfall or excess of funding may seem inevitable. The life table, of which life expectancy is a summary measure, clarifies these issues. We explain life expectancy and how it is used in tort litigation, economic calculations, and life care planning. We examine the life table, of which life expectancy is one output. We illustrate how a life table provides age-specific probabilities of death and survival, life expectancies, and median survival times, and other information and that every life expectancy must be associated with a life table. We consider the implications for life care planners, forensic economists, and others. Life expectancy is a summary of more detailed information provided in a life table. The full life table provides better information for planning purposes. Whether life expectancy or a full life table should be used in developing and valuing a life care plan is not well understood. A multi-disciplinary approach may help clarify these issues.

Forensic economics experts (FE) working with attorneys engaged in litigation, whether consulting, preparing a report, or testifying at deposition or trial, generally are expected to have some knowledge (1) of the state’s statutory and case law regarding allowable damages and methods; and (2) that certain topics (e.g., taxes, collateral sources) should not be mentioned or considered at certain times since a mistrial could result. This situation creates a tension: forensic economics experts are economics experts and are not attorneys, but nonetheless must have a reasonable understanding of the relevant state law. In this vein, the Journal of Forensic Economics (JFE) continues to publish a series of articles on the ways such damages are calculated in different state jurisdictions, one state at a time.2 The state of South Dakota is included in this issue and this paper adds Illinois to the list. Following the format of previous articles in this JFE series, Section II provides a listing of the controlling statutes, general case law, and court rules. Section III discusses the concept of earning capacity which appears throughout PI and WD case law in Illinois. Section IV discusses discounting to present value. Fringe benefits are discussed in Section V, while Section

Techniques of Litigation: A Professional's Handbook for Plaintiffs, Defendants, and by Randine A. Lewis (Quorum Books, 1997). In an excellent and concise presentation, this book familiarizes the reader with the steps necessary to commence a medical lawsuit. The stated intention of this book is to make medical case handling less intimidating. The reader will learn how to interpret medical records, as well as the mechanics of medical lawsuits. Chapter 14, Introduction to Medicine, and chapters 11, 12 and 13, on lawsuits, are the most valuable reference tools in this book. Chapter 1, Introduction to Litigation, is a rather basic introduction. Legal lingo such as plaintiff, defendant, and statute of limitations are briefly defined. This chapter breaks down the types of medical claims as (1) medical malpractice, (2) personal injury, (3) wrongful death, (4) products liability, (5) chemical exposure and (6) worker's compensation. Chapter 2, Obtaining Records, focuses on securing an individual's past medical history in order to contrast and separate preexisting conditions. Chapter 3, Contents of Records, walks the reader through hospital emergency room records, discharge summaries, physical exams, and progress notes. Particularly helpful are the example forms provided in this chapter. Chapter 4, Medical Research, facilitates the understanding of medical aspects by referencing books, such as the Physician's Desk Reference and other medical texts. It also lists the International Classification of Diseases and their corresponding codes as well as definitions of the most commonly used medical specialties. Chapter 5, Medical Experts and Consultants, provides guidelines to evaluate experts and includes a listing of telephone numbers of the American Board of Specialists for reference. Chapter 6, Medical Malpractice, lists the areas involved in medical malpractice, such as missed diagnoses, misdiagnoses, procedural mishaps, and informed consent failures. Chapter 7, Malpractice, is basically a Cancer 101 chapter - all you need to know about cancer but were afraid to ask. Definitions, treatments and drug options are addressed. Chapter 8, Products' Liability, Chemical Exposure, and Toxic Torts, makes it clear that these types of cases need the expertise found in standards set forth by federal agencies. Chapter 9, Worker's Compensation Claims, guides the reader through the process of filing, monitoring, paying benefits, and returning the injured to gainful employment. Impairment and aggravation are well defined. Chapter 10, Personal Injury Claims, is dedicated to the handling of damages (both medical payments and wages loss) as well as how to consider future damages in final settlement amounts. Life care plans are briefly discussed. In rather simple terminology, Chapter 11, Initiating a Lawsuit, steps the reader through the litigation process, which begins by filing a lawsuit. …

For forty years, one goal that all life care planners have had is the measurement of future costs projections. The discussion of damage calculations dates back to the work of Dr. Paul Deutsch with the introduction of principles in life care planning. Embedded within current day standards are reference to associated costs for services identified in a life care plan. The growing availability of healthcare pricing databases has the potential to improve aggregated charge data access to support future cost projections. This paper provides guidance to the life care planner in determining costs for these goods and services through use of commonly used costing databases. It describes steps by which a life care planning practitioner, by following a structured methodology which utilizes these healthcare pricing databases, can make reasonably reliable cost estimates of professional and facility-based medical services. Case examples will provide further illustration for a professional service and a facility based service.

In this article, the authors estimate implementation costs for illicit drug screening and brief intervention (SBI) and identify a key source of variation in cost estimates noted in the alcohol SBI literature. This is the first study of the cost of SBI for drug use only. Using primary data collected from a clinical trial of illicit drug SBI (n = 528) and a hybrid costing approach, we estimated a per-service implementation cost for screening and two models of brief intervention. A taxonomy of activities was first compiled, and then resources and prices were attached to estimate the per-activity cost. Two components of the implementation cost, direct service delivery and service support costs, were estimated separately. Per-person cost estimates were $15.61 for screening, $38.94 for a brief negotiated interview, and $252.26 for an adaptation of motivational interviewing. (Amounts are in 2011 U.S. dollars.) Service support costs per patient are 5 to 7.5 times greater than direct service delivery costs per patient. Ongoing clinical supervision costs are the largest component of service support costs. Implementation cost estimates for illicit drug brief intervention vary greatly depending on the brief intervention method, and service support is the largest component of SBI costs. Screening and brief intervention cost estimates for drug use are similar to those published for alcohol SBI. Direct service delivery cost estimates are similar to costs at the low end of the distribution identified in the alcohol literature. The magnitude of service support costs may explain the larger cost estimates at the high end of the alcohol SBI cost distribution.

No abstract available.

Two experimental studies examined the effect of opposing expert testimony on perceptions of the reliability of unvalidated forensic evidence (anthropometric facial comparison). In the first study a...

A medical negligence trial can be stressful for all involved and may be the first time in a courtroom for many health professionals. To provide students with the opportunity to learn from, with and about each other, the Mock Trial was established as an annual collaborative learning event between a local law school and our university-affiliated Office for IPE (Inter-professional Education). In 2021, Mock Trial was conducted virtually to continue high-quality IPE throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.The aims of the study were to establish the efficacy of translation of a large-scale inter-professional malpractice Mock Trial simulation to the virtual platform and to determine whether this will be a useful modality once social distancing restrictions ease.The virtual simulation was structured using the brief-simulation-debrief model. Students participated as jury members via Zoom. A simulated courtroom held 11 participants of the trial (one judge, four law students [two defence, two prosecutions], five witnesses and one administrator) and was broadcast in real time to students. The learners first heard the case (opening statements, Plaintiff’s case, Defendant’s case, closing statements and jury instructions) before moving to IP jury break-out rooms with facilitator supervision to deliberate a verdict. Verdicts were delivered in the main room, followed by a debriefing. All students completed a pre-/post-questionnaire, including the Interprofessional Collaborative Competency Attainment Survey (ICCAS) and evaluation of simulation methodology, Mock Trial structure/content and overall impression. To assess efficacy, we compared student evaluations from 2018 and 2019 (in-person events) to those from 2021 (virtual).A total of 179 learners participated in three in-person Mock Trials; 143 attended the virtual offering. The virtual event included learners from 19 professions from 4 institutions and 12 facilitators. Evaluations assessed IPEC competencies. For the virtual Mock Trial, learners (96%) strongly agreed/agreed that ‘this activity demonstrated the value of IP collaborative practice to prevent malpractice lawsuits’ and 97% felt that this was a valuable educational activity. Representative qualitative data include: ‘as a law student it was interesting to see what laypeople take away from evidence…’, ‘watching the process provided insight into the litigation process’, ‘the most valuable experience is hearing other people’s perspective’.Large-scale virtual simulation events such as a Mock Trial are feasible and provide a valuable inter-professional learning experience. Student feedback demonstrates that gaining insight from different perspectives is a meaningful part of the experience. Incorporation of large-scale simulation events post-pandemic can increase accessibility to foster IP learning on a wider scale.

This chapter examines the nature of ethical dilemmas faced by forensic economists. It first discusses the various pressures to act unethically that economic experts may encounter. Many of these pressures are addressed by the Statement of Ethical Principles and Principles of Professional Practice (SEP) promulgated by the National Association of Forensic Economics and a comparable statement issued by the American Academy of Economic and Financial Experts. The chapter identifies some principles in the SEP that are not generally practiced by non-forensics consultants. Also explored are the various forms that unethical behavior takes as well as its internal and external motivating factors. The chapter concludes with an examination of the ethics-supporting mechanisms embedded in the adversarial processes of tort litigation.

No abstract available.

In the inaugural issue of this Journal, Dulaney (1987) offered an assessment of the forecast accuracy of four “conventional” methods of estimating the present value of future earnings. He tested the four methods over 15 rolling 20year future periods, with the first period covering 1953-1972 and the last covering 1967-1986. For each method and for each period, he first calculated the estimated present value of the future loss. He then compared this estimated present value to the actual present value,1 the amount of money that actually would have been needed to replace the lost future earnings as determined with the benefit of hindsight. These comparisons between the estimated and actual present values formed the basis for an assessment of the forecast accuracy of each method. In this update, these same four conventional methods are evaluated again over the next 15 rolling 20-year periods, with the first covering 1968-1987 and the last covering 1982-2001. Meaningful comparisons of Dulaney’s and some new results for the earlier periods with the results for the more recent periods are possible for three of the four methods. These comparisons indicate that the forecast accuracy of all three methods was much worse for the more recent periods. Furthermore, results for the fourth method indicate that it is no more accurate than the other three for the more recent periods. These findings are placed in the context of other recent efforts that have been made to assess the forecast accuracy of various estimation methods. Considering this entire body of work, it seems fair to say that there remains considerable room for improvement in the methods used by forensic economists to estimate the present value of lost future earnings.

As part of the Expert Evidence series this chapter is intended to be accessible to lawyers, judges, police officers, and potential jury members; however, it is hoped that this chapter will also be of interest to forensic scientists, phoneticians / speech scientists, speech-processing engineers, and students of all these disciplines. It introduces forensic speech science in a relatively non-technical way, assuming a reader who has no prior knowledge of the subject. The 2010 edition had a heavy focus on acoustic-phonetic statistical approaches to forensic voice comparison. The 2018 edition has a heavier focus on automatic approaches. The 2018 edition includes examples of forensic voice comparison based on real cases. The 2018 edition also includes expended coverage of other branches of forensic speech science. Topics covered include: The likelihood ratio framework for the evaluation of forensic evidence. Approaches to forensic voice comparison. Assessing the validity and reliability of forensic-comparison systems. Speaker identification by laypeople. Disputed utterance analysis.

In modern conditions, the need to increase efficiency of forensic expert activity in economic field depends on development of theoretical and methodological base of forensic economics, interpretation of this economic and legal category in legislative field and determination of the system-forming factor of totality of forensic examinations.
 While systematizing scientific content, the main key issues related to theoretical development foundations of this type of forensic science are considered. The key informative informational blocks of forensic economics are highlighted: the first block is procedural nature of forensic examination assignment and conducting; second block is the use of specific expertise in the field of economics; third block is the topic of forensic economic examination; fourth block is the purpose of the results of economic research. An attempt has been made to improve interpretation of forensic economics as an economic andlegal category, as well as to substantiate its classification on the basis of dividing social production into material and non-material fields that are studied by the corresponding economic sciences.
 Thanks to the use of dialectical method, it is substantiated that solution to this methodological issue lies in the field of material production. Consideration of the relations between the economy and other fields of social activity demonstrated that economy is primary that allowed, as a result of the division of social production into the field of material production (material goods and material services; object of economic relations has a materialized form) and intangible production (intangible goods and intangible services; object economic relations has a non-material form) to determine the system-forming factor of various types of forensic economic examinations.