The Tinari Brief - a continuing series
Covering trends, research and recent cases
involving damages issues.

Are Women harmed by the NJ Unisex Life Expectancy Table?

[This paper is of special interest to attorneys licensed to practice in the State of New Jersey.]
In a recent research paper, attorney Lee Ann Pound and economists Frank D. Tinari and Kevin Cahill examine New Jersey's unisex life expectancy table and the actual impact of its use on women involved in civil actions in New Jersey. The study asks whether or not the unisex table systematically favors some plaintiffs over others. A key finding is that the answer depends not only on the gender of the plaintiff or decedent but also on the type of case and the age of the plaintiff. The end results of ignoring statistical differences in life expectancy by gender when calculating economic losses are, ironically, discrimination against female claimants in a number of types of cases, and an undervaluation of the economic contributions of a female's services to her family in other cases. The important government interest in accuracy when forecasting life expectancy, recognized by the court in the Darrin case, has been discarded in a counterproductive quest for gender equality. To access the full article, click here.

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