Generates a Lost Wage & Economic Loss Report for personal injury litigation. Calculates past/future lost wages, diminished earning capacity, medical expenses, and out-of-pocket costs with source-cited, present-value projections. Use when quantifying economic damages for plaintiff-side personal injury matters during discovery, pre-trial, or settlement. Trigger: lost wages, economic damages, earning capacity, wage loss, damages calculation, personal injury damages.
Generates a Lost Wage & Economic Loss Report for personal injury litigation. Calculates past/future lost wages, diminished earning capacity, medical expenses, and out-of-pocket costs with source-cited, present-value projections. Use when quantifying economic damages for plaintiff-side personal injury matters during discovery, pre-trial, or settlement. Trigger: lost wages, economic damages, earning capacity, wage loss, damages calculation, personal injury damages.
Calculates all economic damages in a personal injury matter, structured to withstand scrutiny from opposing counsel, insurance adjusters, experts, and the court.
Prerequisites
Gather before starting:
Medical records — diagnoses, treatment notes, prognosis, work restrictions, permanency opinions
Output table: Month/Quarter | But-For Earnings | Actual Earnings | Net Lost Wages | Running Total
Additional items: lost health insurance (replacement cost), lost retirement contributions, lost PTO/benefits, tax implications (gross vs. net per jurisdiction).
Flag estimated periods with basis for estimation.
4. Future Loss & Diminished Earning Capacity
Factor
Source
Work-life expectancy
Age, occupation, pre-injury health
Recovery timeline
Treating physician opinions
Permanent restrictions
Medical records, vocational expert
Post-injury capacity
Vocational assessment, labor market data
Temporary future losses: Project from medical opinions; apply past-wage methodology with growth factors.
Permanent diminished capacity: Annual Loss = Pre-Injury Trajectory − Post-Injury Capacity. Present value = sum of (Annual Loss × Discount Factor) over work-life expectancy.
Include: wage growth rate, career advancement, lost benefits, jurisdiction-appropriate discount rate (cite source).
Show table: Year | Projected Loss | Discount Factor | Present Value
Provide sensitivity analysis varying recovery timeline, earning capacity, discount rate, work-life expectancy. Label conservative vs. aggressive scenarios.
5. Medical Expenses
Past: Table with Date | Provider | Service Type | Billed | Insurance Paid | Out-of-Pocket | Status. Categories: emergency, hospitalization, surgery, physician visits, PT/rehab, diagnostics, prescriptions, DME.
Future: Source from physician opinions or life care plan — ongoing therapy, future surgeries, long-term medications, equipment, monitoring. Present both nominal and present value totals.
6. Other Economic Losses
Category
Method
Household services
Hours/week × market rate per type
Transportation
Visit count × mileage rate + parking
Home modifications
Receipts/estimates for ramps, bathroom, adaptive equipment
Miscellaneous
OTC medications, supplies, damaged property
Distinguish past (incurred) vs. future (projected).
7. Damages Summary
Category
Amount
Past Lost Wages (date range)
$
Future Lost Wages / Diminished Capacity (PV)
$
Past Medical Expenses
$
Future Medical Expenses (PV)
$
Household Services (past + future)
$
Transportation
$
Home Modifications / Other
$
TOTAL ECONOMIC DAMAGES
$
Include gross and after-tax totals if jurisdiction requires. Add 1-2 paragraph narrative on key damage drivers. Present conservative and aggressive scenarios with recommended figure labeled.
8. Exhibit List
Sequential by category: employment/wage docs, medical records/bills, expert reports, receipts/invoices, other.
Format: Exhibit # | Description | Date | Relevance to Calculation
Critical Rules
Every figure cites a source — document name, date, page
Show all formulas and assumptions — calculations must be replicable
No advocacy language — let numbers speak; maintain objectivity
Discount rates — jurisdiction-appropriate; state source
Plaintiff-side but credible — conservative methodology builds credibility
