Research & Publications

Damages: Estimating Pecuniary Loss

By Cara L. Brown

This publication is distributed by Canada Law Book. Orders will be accepted directly through the publisher, Canada Law Book, or at 1-800-342-0011.

"This looks like a marvelous piece of work. I haven't seen anything comparable to your book, and I always had to search around for examples and isolated references for this kind of material."

Dr. Ken Cooper-Stephenson, University of Saskatchewan

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Table Of Contents

• Chapter 1: Establishing Earning Capacity in Civil Litigation Cases
• Chapter 2: Augmenting the Base Salary for Fringe Benefits
• Chapter 3: How to forecast growth of earnings
• Chapter 4: Projecting working life expectancy
• Chapter 5: Estimating the impact of disability
• Chapter 6: Treatment of the self-employed from an economic perspective
• Chapter 7: Wrongful death cases
• Chapter 8: Discounting lump sum awards
• Chapter 9: Valuation of housekeeping capacity
• Chapter 10: Valuation of costs of care
• Chapter 11: Calculating Damages in Wrongful Dismissal, Wrongful Confinement, Wrongful Imprisonment, Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Cases
• Chapter 12: Costs of Raising Children and the Federal Child Support Guidelines
• Chapter 13: Economic Advantage and Disadvantage Assessments in Martial Breakdown
• Chapter 14: Use of Economic Experts
• Chapter 15: Expert witnesses

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December 2006 Release

The 2006 update concentrates on:

• new data from Statistics Canada's 2002 General Social Survey (cycle 16) on retirement ages
• new data on retirement & the baby boomer generation, and fringe benefits from Statistics Canada's The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance 2005
• new rates for participation, part-time work, hours worked per week, weeks worked per year, duration of unemployment - by age, gender, education level, province, occupation group
• new unionization rates & comparison of wage changes to major wage settlements
• new forecasts for productivity factors
• new forecasts for unemployment rates
• historical interest rates revised, new forecasts of real discount rates & real return bonds (RRBs)
• revised inflation rate forecasts (Consumer Price index)
• new case law on brain injury plaintiffs, self-employed, cost of care awards
• new housekeeping hourly rates by province & territory - updated to 2006

November 2005 Release

The 2005 update concentrates on:

• New results on wage gaps from the 2001 PALS (Participation & activity limitation survey) - published nowhere else! Revolutionary yet simple method for deriving wage loss estimates (chapter 5)
• PCR (dependency) rates by family size and income level - first time in Canada! Endorsed by Lutz, J. in Fullowka et al v. Royal Oak Ventures et al - Giant Mine explosion case (chapter 7)
• Data and contingencies ideal for using in the income damages calculator at www.browneconomic.com > economic calculators > income damages calculator
• New results on wage gaps due to sexual assault from the 1999 Statistics Canada data - update from 1993 results! (chapter 11)
• Chart of cases on awards for loss of care, guidance and companionship for the past 20 years (chapter 7)
• New housekeeping hourly rates by province & territory - updated to 2005 (chapter 9)
• Revised chapter on economic loss methodologies across Canada - including no-fault regimes and after-tax regimes (chapter 14)
• New productivity & interest rate & inflation rate forecasts (chapters 3 & 8)
• New data on unemployment, non-participation & part-time rates - negative labour market contingencies (chapter 4)
• New! research underlying Canadian spousal support guidelines (chapter 13)

December 2004 release

The 2004 update concentrates on:

• Alberta's Bill 53 changes: "net" income loss calculations & deduction of collateral benefits as of Jan. 26, 2004; implications for self-employed & tax gross-ups (chapter 15)
• comparison of fault & no-fault jurisdictional economic loss calculations (Alberta, BC, Ontario, New Brunswick)- chapter 15
• Mohan economic expert report guidelines - to comply with Daubert-type voir dire hearings evaluating expert testimony in Canada (chapter 15)
• impact of disfigurement on earnings (chapter 5)
• new "disability contingencies" using CPP actuarial data to affect working life expectancy (chapter 4)
• new productivity & interest rate & inflation rate forecasts (chapters 3 & 8)
• new data on unemployment, non-participation & part-time rates (chapter 4)
• new housekeeping replacement rates across Canada (chapter 9)
• new case law on loss of fringe benefits (sick leave pay), mitigation, self-employed persons, "joint" dependency rate, spousal support, wrongful dismissal and sexual assault

Novmeber 2003 release

The 2003 update concentrates on:

• new data on fringe benefits in chapter 2
• revolutionary working life expectancy tables in chapter 4
• demonstration of on-line internet working life/ life expectancy calculator
• new cases in chapter 5 for "loss of marriage benefit"
 
• a revamp of chapter 7 for personal consumption rates (PCRs) using Canadian data, varying by income level- significant ramifications for dependency losses
• distinction of income sources required in personal injury vis-à-vis fatality cases in chapter 7
• housekeeping awards in fatality cases across Canada, 1990-2003 (appendix in chapter 7)
• updates on interest rate forecasts and discount rate to use in provinces without mandated rates in chapter 8
• new housekeeping rates, by province in chapter 9
• additional cases on sexual abuse damages in chapter 11

Click here to see a detailed list of updates.

October 2002 Release

Case law updated in 14 of 15 chapters

• MacCabe Court of Appeal decision - impact on projecting earnings for females (chapter 1)
• New case law affecting minors & young adults (chapter 1)
• New productivity forecasts, industry-specific productivity forecasts, & explanation of productivity factors, inter-provincial differences in wages and industry-sector productivity forecasts as of 2002 (chapter 3)
• New heads of damage: "loss of insurability"; loss of income for survivor after fatality of spouse ("Maccartney & Ruiz damages")
• Advances in computation of remarriage and divorce contingencies (chapter 7)
• Revised real discount rate assumption (3.50%) & long-term economic forecasts for the Canadian economy (chapter 8)
• New section on "investment" or "management" fees in cost of care and fatality claims (chapters 7 & 8)
• New life expectancy estimates as of 1997 and 1999 for Canada, provinces, and other countries (chapter 4)
• Discussion on the CPI as a measure of inflation, and the concept of "core inflation" (chapter 8)
• Valuable services award trends in Canada, 1990-2001, from 1300+ cases (chapter 9)
• Housekeeping internet tool section (chapter 9)
• New case citations on courts' evaluation of expert quantum evidence (chapter 15)
• Cost of raising children- 2 new Alberta decisions (chapter 12)
• New approaches to economic disadvantage in marital breakdown (chapter 13)
• New approaches in Family Relief Act claims (chapter 13)
• New data on 'special and extraordinary expenses' under sec. 7 of the federal child support guidelines (chaper 12)
• Additional findings on pension plan coverage in Canada (chapter 2)
• New data on amount & duration of spousal support awards (chapter 13)
• Section on economists & actuaries as expert witnesses (chapter 15)
• Particularities of Saskatchewan's Automobile Accident Insurance Act for no-fault claims (chapter 15)

July 2001 release

This text merges Canadian case law principles and guidance with forensic economic data available to understand the impact of an interruption on an earnings stream, both for individuals and for families, and for wage earners and the self-employed, in the context of civil litigation. Other heads of damage are explored (loss of valuable services/housekeeping, future cost of care, tax gross-up) and damages arising from unique circumstances are addressed (wrongful death, sexual harassment, sexual assault, wrongful imprisonment, wrongful confinement, marriage breakdown). The role of expert evidence in Canada's civil litigation field is discussed, drawing on the author's 100+ testimonies in courts across Canada and the US. The text is updated annually for changes and advances in case law and economic data and methodologies.