Economic Damages Analysis That Withstands Challenge
Speakers:
Dwight Steward, EmployStats, Ph.D
Robert Cavazos, EmployStats, Ph.D
Francisco Castellanos, EmployStats, Ph.D
Economic damages analysis is entering a period of rapid transformation. AI platforms such as OpenAI ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Harvey AI, Thomson Reuters CoCounsel, and Lexis+ AI are already reshaping how attorneys evaluate injury, employment, wage-and-hour, and commercial damages claims. Tasks that once required substantial analyst time such as document review, payroll synthesis, damages modeling, earnings projections, and settlement scenario testing can now be performed faster and at significantly lower cost through AI-assisted workflows.
We examine where these tools genuinely add value, where they create risk, and why expert judgment remains critical in litigation. Using examples from our experience in personal injury, employment, and commercial disputes, we will discuss how AI can improve efficiency, organization, and analytical speed while also addressing issues of reliability, admissibility, replicability, hidden assumptions, and persuasive presentation. Particular attention will be given to the distinction between automated output and defensible expert analysis in adversarial settings where messy facts, incomplete records, inconsistent data, and strategic framing often determine case outcomes rather than simple mathematical mechanics.