This edited collection addresses the major issues encountered in the calculation of economic damages to individuals in civil litigation. In federal and state courts in the United States, as well as in other nations, when one party sues another, the suing party is required not only to prove that the harm was, indeed, caused by the other party, but also to claim and demonstrate that a specified dollar value represents just compensation for the harm. Forensic economists are often called upon to evaluate, measure, and opine on the degree of economic loss that is alleged to have occurred. Aimed at both practitioners and theorists, the original articles and essays in the edited collection are written by nationally recognized and widely published forensic experts. Its strength is in showcasing theories, methods, and measurements as they differ in a variety of cases, and in its review of the forensic economics literature developed over the past thirty years. Readers will find informative discussions of topics such as establishing earnings capacity for both adults and infants, worklife probability, personal consumption deductions, taxation as treated in federal and state courts, valuing fringe benefits, discounting theory and practice, the effects of the Affordable Care Act, the valuation of personal services, wrongful discharge, hedonics, effective communication by the expert witness, and ethical issues. The volume also covers surveys of the views of practicing forensic economists, the connection between law and forensic economics, alternatives to litigation in the form of VCF-like schedules, and key differences among nations in measuring economic damages.

The hedonic damage concept has been used to introduce testimony from economic experts on loss of the enjoyment of life in both wrongful death and personal injury litigation. It has also recently been used to introduce testimony about "loss of society" to survivors of decedents. All of these developments are presented in a balanced format that includes papers defining, supporting, opposing and proposing alternatives to the "hedonic damage" concept in all of its applications. It also considers the impact of the 1993 Daubert v. Merrell Dow mandates of the U.S. Supreme Court as well as individual state cases and mandates on this type of economic expert testimony.

"An excellent primer on economic damages for attorneys with injury and wrongful death cases." This book provides a concise non-mathematical introduction to economic valuation issues involving lost wages, employee stock options, hedonic damages, fringe benefits, household services. The book is well-suited for both new and seasoned attorneys litigating medical malpractice, products liability, or personal injury cases. In addition to providing a discussion of the underlying methodology, actual values for the economic damages in an injury or wrongful death case can be determined using the numerous tables and resources in this book. There are also discussions on a number of current trends and issues related to the admission of economic expert evidence in state and federal courts. "A hands on and interactive introduction" The supporting website, http: //www.economicdamagehandbook.com contains numerous on-line calculators and downloadable documents that readers can use to assist them in proving or rebut economic damages in any case.

This paper examines trends in court decisions involving hedonic damages as a follow up to an earlier survey of cases described by Ireland, Johnson and Taylor in a 1997 article. The trend continues to be against admissibility of expert economic testimony on hedonic damages or other methods for placing dollar values on intangible losses. However, there have been successes for hedonic damage testimony that receive special attention in this paper. Paper also addresses special factors that apply to decisions in the states of New Mexico, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. It also examines the nexus between law and economics concerns about “value of life” issues in tort litigation and what judges are actually considering. Finally, it provides an analytic examination of a special “whole life” issue posed by the treatment of survival actions in New Mexico in conjunction with requirements of consciousness for awards of hedonic damages in other states.