Economic Damages Expert Rebuttal & Critique

If the other side has served an economic damages report, we review it independently. As an economic damages rebuttal expert, we rebuild the opposing calculation, find the assumptions the total actually depends on, and tell you what the record supports and what it does not. We do this for plaintiff and defense counsel, in federal and state courts and in arbitration.

Rebuttal is a different job from an affirmative analysis. The question is not what we would have calculated. It is whether the opposing number can be reproduced from its stated inputs, and whether the inputs it leans on have support in the record.

What an opposing expert report review covers

A forensic economist rebuttal starts with the whole report: schedules, exhibits and the materials considered, not only the conclusion page. The issues fall into three groups.

Method and data

• Methodology. Whether the approach fits the claim and the damages law of the forum.
• Source data. Whether each input traces to a document in the record, and whether the expert used the complete set or a convenient part of it.
• Statistical methodology. Sample selection, averaging periods, regressions and extrapolation from a short history.
• Event studies. In securities matters, the indices and estimation window, how event dates were chosen, how confounding news was apportioned and whether the inflation ribbon reflects partial disclosures; see reviewing an opposing event study.
• Mathematical errors. Formula errors, double counting, timing mismatches and totals that do not tie to the schedules.
• Unsupported assumptions. Inputs stated as fact with no document, testimony or data behind them.

Earnings

In personal injury, wrongful death and employment matters, most of a lost earnings rebuttal expert’s work sits here.

• Lost earnings. The base year, and whether the base reflects actual earnings history or a projection presented as history.
• Worklife expectancy. The source, the starting point and whether it fits the individual’s actual work pattern.
• Wage growth. The rate, its source, and whether it is applied on top of a base that already includes growth.
• Fringe benefits. Which benefits are included, the percentage used and whether any item is counted twice.
• Tax assumptions. Whether income taxes are treated the way the forum’s damages law requires.
• Mitigation. Whether residual or replacement earnings are reflected, over what period and on what evidence.

Valuation and business damages

A lost profits rebuttal expert applies the same discipline to the business record.

• Discount rates. The rate, its source and tenor, and whether it is consistent with the growth assumptions it is paired with.
• Present value. Timing conventions and the date to which future amounts are discounted.
• Lost profits. The but-for revenue, the incremental costs deducted, the length of the damages period, and whether the loss is separated from causes other than the conduct at issue.

How a review works

We follow the four steps published in our rebuttal case study, in this order.

1. Reproduce the number first. We rebuild the opposing calculation exactly. If it cannot be reproduced from the stated inputs, that is itself the finding.
2. Locate where the number lives. We vary each assumption in turn to see which ones the total is actually sensitive to. Often one or two carry almost all of the weight.
3. Test only what is unsupported. We concede what the record supports. We challenge assumptions that have no support, not ones that are merely unfavorable to your client.
4. Present a range, not a rival number. The response shows how the total moves under supportable alternatives.

A rebuttal that flips every assumption to the opposite extreme invites the same cross-examination it was meant to deliver. A narrow challenge to the one input that drives the total is harder to answer.

What a review can produce

What comes out of a review depends on the scope you set, the deadline and what the record contains. Not every matter needs every item, and some need only the first.

• Preliminary critique. What holds, what does not and which assumptions drive the total. It can remain consulting-only.
• Alternative calculations. The opposing model rerun with supportable inputs, where the record supports an alternative.
• Rebuttal analysis. The sensitivity work and resulting range, organized around the assumptions that matter.
• Expert rebuttal report. If you designate us and the schedule allows, a written report by the economist who did the work.
• Deposition preparation. Issues for the opposing expert’s deposition, tied to specific pages and schedules of their report.
• Cross-examination issues. The points where the report’s assumptions depart from the record, framed for trial.
• Demonstrative calculations. Schedules showing how the total moves with the key assumption, where they would help at mediation or trial.

Every engagement is led by the economist, forensic accountant or specialist responsible for the opinion. Analysts may support the work, but the designated expert owns the methodology, assumptions, analysis, report and testimony.

An independent review, not a promised conclusion

We don’t promise a conclusion. If the opposing number is well supported, we will tell you before you pay for a report.

That answer is still useful. It tells you where the defensible range sits before mediation, and it keeps you from designating an expert whose opinion will not hold. Our compensation is never tied to the outcome, and we decline work we cannot do properly: the wrong expertise, a deadline we cannot meet, or a record that will not carry the opinion.

Damages expert rebuttal deadlines

Rebuttal windows are short, so the date matters as much as the report.

• Federal court. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(a)(2)(D)(ii), absent a stipulation or court order, expert evidence intended solely to contradict or rebut evidence on the same subject matter identified by another party must be disclosed within 30 days after the other party’s disclosure. Scheduling orders often set their own dates, and those control.
• California state court. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 2034.280, within 20 days after the expert witness exchange, a party that took part in the exchange may submit a supplemental expert witness list naming experts on a subject covered by an adverse party’s expert, if it has not previously retained an expert to testify on that subject. The list must be accompanied by an expert witness declaration and any discoverable reports and writings, and those experts must be made available for deposition immediately.

Other state courts and arbitration have their own schedules. Tell us the deadline when you run the conflict check, and we will tell you whether a meaningful economic expert rebuttal fits inside it.

Plaintiff and defense

We review opposing reports for plaintiff and defense counsel. The method does not change with the side of the caption. For plaintiff counsel, the report under review may carry a short worklife, a truncated damages period or an aggressive mitigation offset. For defense counsel, it may carry a long damages period, an optimistic growth rate or a but-for revenue line with no support in the business record. The four steps are the same either way.

We also review life care plan present value calculations: whether each cost category carries an appropriate growth rate, whether the discount rate matches the timing of the costs, and whether life expectancy is sourced and applied consistently.

Representative analyses

• Rebuttal: a front-pay figure built on an assumption nobody had tested. A plaintiff economist’s front-pay figure was arithmetically sound, but one untested duration assumption drove the total. The review moved the dispute from the total to that single input.
• Life care plan present value: two work-life scenarios, one medical cost stream. The vocational expert gave two post-injury work-life expectancies. Both were carried through the analysis as separate totals rather than averaged into one.

More are on the representative analyses page.

How to send the report

• Send it now. Upload the opposing report, with its schedules and exhibits, through our secure upload. No account is needed.
• Run the conflict check first. If you would rather clear conflicts before sending anything, submit the party names through the conflict check. Nothing privileged is required.

Protective orders. If the report is designated confidential under a protective order, send the party names first and confirm the order permits disclosure to a consulting expert, including anything the expert must sign, before you upload it.

Not sure a review is worth it yet? Start with the conflict check. The scoping call that follows is free and covers what the record supports and what it does not. When you are ready, send the expert report and upload the rest of the case file the same way.

Frequently asked questions

Will you tell me if their report is sound?

Yes. If the opposing number is well supported, we say so before you pay for a report, including the parts that favor the other side. Knowing that early is worth more than a rebuttal that will not hold.

Can the review stay consulting-only?

Yes. A meaningful share of our engagements are consulting-only and never disclosed. Whether to designate us is your decision, and it can be made after you have seen the preliminary critique.

What should I send with the report?

The full report with every schedule, exhibit and appendix; any spreadsheets or working files produced with it; the list of materials the expert considered and as many of those materials as you have; relevant deposition transcripts; and the scheduling order or rebuttal deadline. For lost profits, include the financial statements, tax returns and ledgers the expert relied on.

How quickly can you give a preliminary critique?

It depends on the length of the report, whether working files were produced and how much underlying data has to be checked. Tell us the deadline at the conflict check. We will tell you whether a meaningful review fits inside it, and if it does not, we will say so rather than take the work.

Do you review life care plan present value calculations?

Yes. We review the economics of the plan: the growth rate applied to each cost category, the discount rate, the life expectancy source and the timing of each item. See life care plan present value for the method.

Do you work for plaintiffs and defendants?

Yes. We are retained by both plaintiff and defense counsel, and the method does not change with the side of the caption.

Do you need the underlying data or just the report?

We can start with the report alone. The first step, reproducing the number, shows whether the stated inputs produce the stated total. Testing whether those inputs are supported takes the record behind them. If the underlying data was not produced, identifying what is missing is part of the critique.