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Anchorage Alaska Forensic Economist

We provide economic expert witness testimony & damage calculation services for legal cases in Anchorage and throughout Alaska

Although we support both plaintiff and defense clients, The Knowles Group began its origination providing economic analysis supporting defense clients. Now, 35 years later, we continue to work heavily on defense cases with the U.S. Government as well as other entities within the state of Alaska. We look forward to our continued retention in Alaska while maintaining our presence as one of the leading economic litigation support firms in the Pacific Northwest.

Forensic Economic Consulting Services

The Knowles Group has decades of experience working on legal cases in Alaska. Based in Seattle WA, we can provide preliminary damages estimates and case evaluations from records review, remotely. We can also work with you virtually on damage calculations, including loss of earnings, lost profits, and other forensic analyses. We are available to travel to Anchorage or anywhere in Alaska to serve as an expert witness at trial. The Knowles Group can also provide pre-trial litigation consulting and support on-site in Alaska.

Legal Cases We’ve Worked On In Alaska

Partner with The Knowles Group to be your firm’s trusted litigation consulting company for legal cases in Anchorage, AK. We have an established network of expert witnesses and legal resources to help calculate and prove economic loss.

Medical malpractice case involving fisherman with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Medical malpractice case involving fisherman with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

A 26-year-old male who had developed Hodgkin’s Lymphoma was making a claim of Negligence and Medical malpractice against an Alaskan medical facility. Economic damage components of the case involved the alleged diminishment to the future earnings capacity. Plaintiff had continued working in the demanding fishing industry with physical constraints. Due to his age, proposed mitigation included returning to school and attaining his degree. Key assumptions in the case included an adjusted work-life expectancy at the completion of his degree, age earnings data for males with a college degree, and the tuition costs and fees for school. The economic analysis also included calculating the future lost profits for the plaintiff’s hypothetical fishing business (captaining his own vessel).

Wrongful death claim with Complaint of Medical Malpractice and Delayed Diagnosis

Wrongful death claim with Complaint of Medical Malpractice and Delayed Diagnosis

The case involved the patient developing colon cancer over a period of several years and two separate hospital facilities in Southwest Alaska and Anchorage. The decedent was retired and as a result there was no loss of earnings component to the wrongful death claim. One of the unique components to the case was the valuation of subsistence as the decedent provided food for the household through hunting and fishing. In order to properly value this lost subsistence to the surviving spouse, an estimate was made for the cost of food for the household at this rural Southwest location. Next, the analysis would go on to assess as to how much the subsistence would offset the household’s cost of feeding and heating the household. The other loss component was household services offered by the decedent for the family. Objective survey data when available is to be utilized by the forensic economist and in this case, we had well-established publishers of household services data and household maintenance hours, isolated by gender, age and family dynamics. These household hours are monetized with the average hourly rate of pay one could expect to pay a third party to provide those services in the home for the surviving spouse. Household hours were reduced by the number of hours that would benefit the decedent and the reduction in family size. Consideration for normal life expectancy and fully-functioning healthy life expectancy for this Alaskan Native was a key assumption for the analysis.

Wrongful death matter and complaint of Medical Malpractice involving Alaskan hospital facility

Wrongful death matter and complaint of Medical Malpractice involving Alaskan hospital facility

This case involved a wrongful death matter of a retiree who developed advanced stage liver cancer. My services included assessing any lost value of pension to the surviving spouse from the decedent’s TRS (Teachers Retirement System) benefits. This component to the analysis included projecting the decedent’s personal consumption (spending) of his own pension benefit and compare the pre-incident net pension benefit to the resulting surviving spouse pension benefit. The other component to the analysis was calculating any loss of household services to the surviving spouse. This process includes utilizing objective 3rd party survey data for the average number of hours we would expect the decedent to work in the maintenance of his home (assuming similar age, employment and family dynamics). The average future hours that would have been performed by the decedent are monetized using an average hourly wage that the surviving spouse will have to pay a 3rd party to perform these services. Household survey hours must be reduced for the number of hours that would have benefited the decedent only and the reduction in household size. Some of the other key assumptions in the case were the rate of consumption and the decedent’s fully functioning health life expectancy.

Do you need litigation support in Alaska? 

Expert Witness for Economic Damages

We can serve as an economic expert witness for legal cases in a variety of industries:

  • Commercial fishing accidents
  • Oil drilling / oil rig accidents
  • Logging accidents
  • Mining accidents
  • Farming / agricultural accidents
  • Medical malpractice claims
  • Tourism accidents
  • Boating accidents
  • Business valuation
  • Calculating lost profits
  • Real estate valuation

Reach out to The Knowles Group for a complimentary case evaluation. We can quickly determine the magnitude of damages and provide a clear path forward for litigation.