The Plaintiff and Defense Attorney's Guide to Understanding Economic Damages

Michael L. Brookshire, Ph.D. is a Professor of Economics at the Marshall University Graduate College in Charleston, West Virginia, and the President of Michael L. Brookshire and Associates. His doctorate in economics is from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and much of his early career was spent as an executive officer of the University of Tennessee and the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Brookshire has authored two books and over thirty-five refereed articles and book chapters on the proper calculation of economic damages. He has worked for plaintiff and defense attorneys in such notable cases as the Arrow Air (Gander, Newfoundland) and Lockerbie (Scotland) airplane crash cases and suchclass action cases as the Fen-Phen, Bendectin, E. I. du Pont C-8, and Tobacco Smoker cases. Dr. Brookshire was a charter member of the National Association of Forensic Economics (NAFE) and served on the Board of Directors from 1990-2001. He served as the fifth president of the Association in 1993 1994 and as the second, executive director of the Association from 1999 2001. He received in 1999 the past presidents award for outstanding service to the Association.Frank Slesnick, Ph.D. received his B.A. from Oberlin College and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota. He taught at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and for thirty years at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to his full-time duties as a professor of economics, he has served as a forensic economic consultant for twenty-five years in the area of personal injury/death cases with a specific focus on medical cost issues. Dr. Slesnick has published widely in the field of forensic economics and currently serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Forensic Economics. In 1991 92, he served as the fourth President of the National Association of Forensic Economics. He retired from teaching in 2005 but maintains an active consulting practice.John O. Ward, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and President of John Ward Economics, a litigation consulting firm located in Prairie Village, Kansas. Dr. Ward has a B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the University of Toledo and a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, granted in 1970. Dr. Ward was a professor of economics at UMKC from 1969 to 2003, serving as Department Chair for fourteen years and Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for eight years. He continues to teach Human Resource Economics and Law and Economics for graduate students. His publications include five edited or authored books, fifty-three papers published in refereed journals, publications in law journals and reviews and numerous presentations at national and international academic and professional meetings. Dr. Ward was the first President of the National Association of Forensic Economics and the founding editor of the Journal of Forensic Economics. He served as editor of that journal until 2004, when he became editor emeritus. Dr.Ward has served as a consultant for the Department of Labor, the Department of Defense, the governments of Brazil and Mexico and numerous non-profit organizations, including the American Epilepsy Association and the Families of September 11th Association. Dr. Ward s consulting firm, John Ward Economics, employs eight economists and staff. The firm provides economic litigation support in commercial litigation, employment law, anti-trust and personal injury and death litigation throughout the United States.