Stan Smith (economist)

Intro

Stan Smith, a University of Chicago trained economist, is credited with coining the term and creating the arguments that launched the hedonic damages theory into the mainstream of legal economics in the 1985 court case Sherrod v. Berry. [ Barrett, Paul M. Price of Pleasure - New Legal Theorists Attach a Dollar Value To the Joys of Living. (1988, Dec.12). The Wall Street Journal, p. A1. ] Now president of a Chicago economic litigation support firm, Smith Economics Group, Ltd. [http://www.SmithEconomics.com] he provides expert testimony in court cases nationwide on all issues of economic damanges, from commercial damages (antitrust, patent and business valuation, breach of contract, etc.) to personal injury damages, including cases where it can be argued the quality of someone's life has been diminished or lost.

Background

Born in 1946 in Wisconsin, Smith received his Master's degree in economics in 1972 from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business. Smith received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1997. After receiving his Masters Degree, Smith held a position as a Staff Economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors until 1974. At this point, Smith went on to work for companies such as JPMorgan Chase Bank, The December Group, and the Ibbotson Group before heading back to academia to teach as an adjunct professor at DePaul University from 1990 to 1994. With Dr. Michael Brookshire, Smith co-authored the first textbook in the field of Forensic Economics published by Anderson, Cincinnati, in 1990: "Economic/Hedonic Damages".

Contributions

In 1985, a case came before the 7th circuit court of appeals in which a police officer shot and killed an unarmed man he believed to be armed. This case, Sherrod v. Berry, made popular the use of hedonic damages to determine the value of life lost. [ Franz, Wolfgang (1996).The meaning of hedonic damages in tort ligigation: a note. Journal of Forensic Economics. 55-57. ] In short, hedonic damages attempt to determine how highly a person valued their own life, and receive proportionate compensation. Smith brought the use of the hedonic damages concept in to the limelight with his testimony in this case, with both positive and negative opinions of the concept over the next few years.

In 1990, Smith published an article in the Journal of Forensic Economics titled 'Hedonic Damages and Personal Injury: A Conceptual Approach' along with co-authors Edward P. Berla and Michael L. Brookshire. [ Berla, E.P., Brookshire, M.L., & Smith, S.V. (1990). Hedonic Damages and Personal Injury: A Conceptual Approach. Journal of Forensic Economics. ] This article introduced and developed a case for the Lost Pleasure of Life scale, an idea which would later be put to many uses. According to the book 'Assessment of Rehabilitive and Quality of Life Issues in Litigation', this approach provided a theoretical model to quantify the loss of pleasure of life, something which hadn't existed previously. [ Murphy, Patricia, J.M. Williams (1998). Assessment of Rehabilitative and Quality of Life Issues in Litigation . CRC Press. ]

Articles Written

*"Don't Overlook the Loss of Expanded Family Services," Trial, Vol. 42, No. 3, "Good Counsel" Column, March 2006, pg. 73.
*"Economic Foundations of Injury and Death Damages," Roger T. Kaufman, James D. Rogers, Gerald D. Martin, Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc., 2005.
*"Determining Economic Damages," Gerald D. Martin, James Publishing Inc., current year & previous years' editions.
*"Hedonic Damages," Izabela Z. Schultz, Douglas O. Brady, Steven Carella, Eds., Psychological Injuries at Trial, Torts Section, American Bar Association, 2003.
*"Jury Verdicts and the Dollar Value of Human Life," Journal of Forensic Economics, 13(2), 2000, pp. 169-188.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases - Hedonic Damages," The Neurolaw Letter, Vol. 9, No. 8, April 2000, pp. 45, 48-49.
*"Why Juries Can Be Trusted," Voir Dire, American Board of Trial Advocates, Vol. 5, Issue 3, Summer 1998, pp. 19-21 & 25.
*"Jury Verdicts in Drunken Driving Cases," Journal of Forensic Economics, 11(1), 1998, p. 67-6
*"The Value of Life to Close Family Members: Calculating the Loss of Society and Companionship," American Rehabilitation Economics Association, Monograph, 1997, pp. 10-16.
*"Jury Verdicts in Drunken Driving Cases," University of Chicago Ph.D. Thesis, UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, MI, 1997.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases in Washington - Hedonic Damages," Trial News, Vol. 32, Number 5, January 1997, pp. 29-30, Washington State Trial Lawyers Association.
*"Pseudo-Economists - The New Junk Scientists," Federation of Insurance & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 1, Fall 1996, pp. 95-105.
*"The Value of Life to Close Family Members: Calculating the Loss of Society and Companionship," The New Hedonics Primer for Economists and Attorneys, Second Edition, Edited by Thomas R. Ireland and John O. Ward, Lawyers & Judges Publishing Co., 1996, pp. 377-384.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases - Hedonic Damages," Idaho Trial Lawyers Association Journal, Volume 25, Number 2, Summer 1996, pp. 32-36.
*"Measuring the Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases and Wrongful Death Cases in New Mexico - Hedonic Damages," The New Mexico Trial Lawyer, New Mexico Trial Lawyers' Foundation, Vol. XXIV, No. 3, March, 1996, pp. 1, 60-63.
*"Hedonic Damages - Measuring the Loss of Enjoyment of Life in P.I. Cases," In Brief, Iowa Trial Lawyers Association, Vol. 7/Issue 1, January-February 1996, pp. 13-15.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases in Arizona - Hedonic Damages," Advocate, Arizona Trial Lawyers Association, November 1995, pp. 5, 7, 15.
*"Hedonic Damages - Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases," Law Reporter, The Journal of the Hawaii Trial Lawyers Association, Vol. 7, No. 9, September 1995, pp. 8-10.
*"Damages for the Value of Life," North Dakota Trial Lawyers The Pleader, Vol. 18, No. 4, September 1995, pp. 9-11, 24.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases - Hedonic Damages," The Advocate, The Kentucky Academy of Trial Attorneys, Vol. 22, No. 5, September/October, 1995, pp. 14-16, 22.
*"Measuring The Loss of Enjoyment of life in Personal Injury Cases in Ohio - Hedonic Damages," Ohio Trial, Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers Education Foundation, Vol. 6, Issue 3, Summer 1995, pp. 13- 16.
*"Hedonic Da

*"Measuring the Loss of Enjoyment of Life in Personal Injury Cases - Hedonic Damages," MTLA News, Maine Trial Lawyers Association, Vol. 6, No. 4, December, 1994, pp. 3-5.
*"Economic Evaluation of the Loss of Enjoyment of Life - Hedonic Damages," in Damages in Tort Actions, Mathew Bender & Co., New York Ch. 124, Release 29 - February 1994, Pub. 309.
*"Hedonic Damages in Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Litigation," in Gaughan and Thornton, eds. Litigation Economics, Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, JAI Press, Greenwich, CT, Vol 74, 1993.
*"Evaluating the Loss of Enjoyment of Life - Hedonic Damages," in Charles N. Simkins, ed., Analysis, Understanding and Presentation of Cases Involving Traumatic Brain Injury, National Head Injury Foundation, Washington, DC, 1993.
*"1992/1993 Cumulative Supplement to Economic/Hedonic Da

*"Life Values: Measuring the Loss of Enjoyment of Life - Economic Analysis Whose Time Has Come," The Brief, The American Bar Association, Summer 1993, Vol. 22, No. 4 pp. 24-27, 62-63.
*"Spotting Bias in Plaintiffs' Economic Loss Reports: A Primer for both Sides," Illinois Bar Journal, Vol 80, No. 12, December, 1992, pp. 635-638.
*"Hedonic Da

*"Hedonic Damages," with G. Magnarini, Wisconsin Lawyer, Vol. 64, No. 2, February 1991.
*"Hedonic Damages in the Courtroom Setting - A Bridge Over Troubled Waters," Journal of Forensic Economics, 3(3), 1990, pp. 41-49.
*"Hedonic Damages and Personal Injury: A Conceptual Approach," Journal of Forensic Economics, 3(1), 1990, pp. 1-8. 6831
*"The Hedonic Value of Life: Economic Expert Witness Testimony in Injury and Wrongful Death," Expert Evidence Reporter, Vol. 1, No. 1, September 1989, Shepard's McGraw-Hill.
*"Hedonic Damages in Wrongful Death Cases," the ABA Journal, Sept,1988.
*"Hedonic Damages" Illinois Tort Report, June, 1988.
*"Economist Proposes Relief From Present Value Ruling," Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, June 8, 1988.
*"Historical Returns on Investment Instruments," Handbook of Modern Finance 1985, with Roger Ibbotson and Larry Siegel; Dennis Logue, ed., Warren, Gorham & Lamont, New York.

References

ee also

* Hedonic damages