| Plaintiffs are seeking “nuclear” verdicts and have hired the same over-used damage experts to come up with exaggerated life care plans and economic reports, which are not supported by the medical records, opinions of treating physicians, or even the deposition testimony of the plaintiff. Not only do these exaggerated numbers make cases difficult to settle, but they also set unrealistic expectations for plaintiffs. Once a plaintiff sees an economic report citing millions of dollars in damages, it is difficult for their attorneys to walk back their valuation of the case and try to convince their clients to settle the case for its actual value.
Nevertheless, these overused life care planners and economists charge plaintiffs thousands (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars) to review extensive medical records and draft life care plans and economic reports, yet they show up to their depositions completely unprepared. Often-times, they are not familiar with the plaintiff’s medical records, deposition testimony, or recommendations of treating physicians. So, as a defense attorney, how do you push back on these damage experts who keep insisting that the plaintiff cannot work, requires extensive future medical treatment, and needs help with household services? You show up at their deposition completely prepared.Preparation for damage experts starts when you receive the case. At Ottenwess Law, we have a highly skilled medical team analyzing medical records who excel at finding discrepancies in the medical records. We investigate plaintiff and family members’ social media and properly save the data (see more on this here). We utilize surveillance and Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs) to determine the consistency of a plaintiff’s complaints and their testimony. We take the depositions of plaintiff’s damage experts very seriously and show up prepared and ready to aggressively cross-examine them on the basis of their opinions. Since life care planners and economist usually cannot support their opinions for such exaggerated damages, we file motions to strike their testimony/reports or request a Daubert hearing. Click here to contact me about my approach to handling high damage cases and exaggerated damages. |
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