What falls outside the discipline.
The opinion is only useful when it stays within the discipline that produced it.
Forensic economics measures economic loss. It is not the discipline that decides whether the defendant is liable, whether the injury caused the alleged condition, what jobs the plaintiff can hold post-injury, or how the jury should feel about the plaintiff's circumstances. Dr. Pettingill does not opine on those questions, and explicitly disclaims them in every report.
This is not a marketing posture. It is what makes the opinion useful — and it is what makes the opinion survive a Daubert challenge.
Outside the discipline
Liability
Whether the defendant breached a duty, caused the injury, or is otherwise legally responsible — questions of fact and law outside forensic economics.
Medical causation
Whether the injury caused the alleged condition. Reserved for qualified medical experts.
Vocational rehabilitation
What the plaintiff can or cannot do post-injury, and what retraining is reasonable. Reserved for vocational experts; we cost their work.
Hedonic damages
The value of loss of enjoyment of life. Rejected in most jurisdictions and not within the discipline of forensic economics.
Life care plan content
The medical necessity or appropriateness of items in a life care plan. We price the plan as written; we do not modify it.
Pain and suffering
Non-economic damages of any kind — including loss of consortium and emotional distress.
Need an opinion that stays within the discipline?
That is the practice we operate.