Why does my Georgia catastrophic case need an economist to calculate future losses?

· 3 min read

In a severe-injury case, much of the harm has not happened yet. The medical bills, lost paychecks, and care costs that will accrue over the coming decades dwarf what has already been spent. Putting a defensible number on those future losses is not something a claimant can reliably estimate alone, which is why serious cases often rely on a forensic economist.

Turning a lifetime of harm into a present-day figure

A catastrophic injury can erase a person’s earning capacity and create care needs that recur for life. Georgia law allows recovery for future medical expenses and future lost earnings when they are reasonably certain, but a jury cannot simply guess at a total. An economist translates the injury’s long-term consequences into a supportable dollar amount by accounting for variables a layperson would miss.

That analysis typically draws on a separate “life-care plan,” usually prepared by a medical or rehabilitation specialist, that itemizes the treatments, equipment, medications, therapies, and attendant care the person will need and how often. The economist then prices that plan over the person’s projected lifespan and reduces it to present value.

What the economist actually accounts for

The work goes well beyond multiplying a yearly cost by a number of years. A credible projection generally weighs:

  • Work-life and life expectancy drawn from recognized statistical tables.
  • Lost earning capacity, including raises, promotions, and benefits the person likely would have earned but for the injury.
  • Medical and care inflation, which historically outpaces general inflation, so future costs are higher than today’s prices.
  • Present-value discounting, because a dollar paid today to cover a cost decades away can be invested in the meantime, so future sums must be reduced to what they are worth now.

Because these factors pull in different directions, inflation pushing costs up and discounting pulling them down, the methodology matters. Georgia courts apply the expert-admissibility standard in O.C.G.A. § 24-7-702, so an economist’s opinion must rest on reliable data and sound method to be admitted and to withstand cross-examination.

Why a sound number protects the recovery

Without expert calculation, future damages are easy for the defense to attack as speculative, and a jury may discount them. A well-built economic analysis gives the future-loss claim a factual spine, supports settlement negotiations, and helps ensure any recovery actually reflects the decades of cost the injury imposes.

The bottom line

A forensic economist converts a life-care plan and lost earning capacity into a present-value figure that survives Georgia’s reliability standard for expert testimony. In a catastrophic case, where future losses are the largest part of the claim, that calculation is often what separates a number a jury will accept from one it will dismiss as guesswork.

This article is for general educational and informational purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship, and Georgia law may change. For advice about a specific situation, consult a licensed Georgia personal injury attorney.

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