Qualifications matter...

...especially when calculating future earnings losses in personal injury cases:

From McCabe vs. Ransom (Ohio state court)

This personal injury action arose out of an admitted liability automobile accident when a car being driven by Terry McCabe was rear-ended by a car driven by Matthew Ransom.

To prove a future wage loss, McCabe, as is common in personal injury cases, attempted to elicit testimony concerning future wage losses. However, in this case, instead of retaining an economist, the plaintiff relied on testimony from the business manager and financial secretary of the local workers union of which McCabe was a member.

The trial court rejected the business manager's testimony and did not allow him to testify at trial. The court noted that the business manager was not an economist and his sole qualification on the record was that he had a college degree in labor studies.

Given the relative weakness of the business manager's qualifications to testify in the unquestionably speculative area of predicting future business prospects, the appellate court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in limiting his testimony. The witness failed to meet the requirements of rule 702.

Punchline: The appeals court found that the trial court did not err in rejecting the business manager's testimony.