In January 2015, 590 e-mail invitations to complete an electronic survey were sent to NAFE (National Association of Forensic Economics) members. The response rate was approximately 33%, almost nine percentage points higher than the last paper survey administered in 2003. The survey covered many of the major topics included in earlier surveys, such as values of important economic variables (e.g., discount rates), trends in the practice of forensic economics (e.g., personal sources of earnings), and open-ended questions concerning ethics and reactions to the survey instrument. On the 2015 Survey instrument there were several new questions concerning such matters as how forensic economists perceive the role of vocational (rehabilitation) experts, the effects of the Affordable Care Act on loss estimates, how members charge for their services, and the size of respondents' practices.Abstract
Contributor Notes
Editors’ Note: This article stems from a survey of the National Association of Forensic Economics (NAFE) membership. The views of the anonymous respondents do not necessarily represent the view of NAFE, or of its Board of Directors, or of all the members of NAFE. The authors of the article have not attempted to determine what biases, if any, exist in the results due to (a) the general composition of all experts who testify about economic damages, (b) the effect of non-responses, (c) the effects of various state and federal case and statutory laws, and (d) the accuracy and truthfulness of the responses received. To have determined the actual practice of all forensic economists and correcting for these potential biases was beyond the scope of this research effort.