Expert Witness: Using Social Science to Estimate Lifetime Loss of Care in Wrongful Death Cases

• In Event: 41064 - Strategies for Broadening Knowledge and Engaging with Communities through the Use of Sociology

Abstract

In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the expert witness consulting process and lessons learned, as well as details about how I personally use social science theory and methods to inform my expert opinion on the anticipated lifetime loss of care and support to parents in cases involving the death of a child. Intergenerational solidarity theory, role theory, family systems theory, and the life course perspective, and case-specific data gained from interviews with bereaved parents about their relationships and exchanges of support with their parents and grandparents provide the basis for my reports on the likelihood and frequency of different types of support and care that the parents could have reasonably expected throughout their lifetime if their child had lived to adulthood. I also draw on existing research findings to estimate the likely frequency of support and calculate a conservative estimate of lifetime hours of lost caregiving that is risk adjusted for the likelihood of providing informal caregiving. Fee schedules, retainers, conflict of interest, working with lawyers, and how to effectively communicate social science theory, methods, and findings in depositions and court testimony while meeting legal (Daubert) standards for scientific validity will also be discussed.

Author

• Tracey A. LaPierre, University of Kansas