Actuarial Services and Economic Opinions

Some of the reports are prepared for plaintiffs who are Israelis’ citizens and part are foreign citizens, such as Canadians, French, and American plaintiffs that have standing to sue abroad. The plaintiffs request a professional opinion that will quantify and assess the amount of damage and injury caused to them in respect of disputes, breach of contract, personnel body injuries and actuarial services. The economic report is attempted to examine the question of eligibility of parties to the claim and to assess and quantify the amount of damage and injury. Often the calculations include estimates of loss in value of stock and other assets.

Some expert reports are requested in civil actions pursuant to a terrorist attack brought by victims of terrorist attacks, by the guardians, family members and the personal representatives of the estates of terrorist victims. The lawsuits are held on courts in Israel or abroad, such as in New York and Columbia, and defendants are the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Arab Bank, or the Islamic Republic of Iran. In the economic report, we try to quantify the damage incurred to plaintiffs due to them being harmed in a terrorist attack or any other terrorist activity.

Pursuant to 18 U.S.C §§§ 2333: “Any national of the United States injured in his or her person, property, or business by reason of an act of international terrorism, or his or her estate, survivors, or heirs, may sue therefor in any appropriate district court of the United States and shall recover threefold the damages he or she sustains and the cost of the suit, including attorney’s fees.”

Therefore any family members of U.S. citizens killed or injured outside the USA are eligible to submit claims for compensation in U.S. courts.

Defendants are primarily Arab or International banks where associations and organizations, which were directly or indirectly related to terrorist organizations, have opened bank accounts. Compensation damages of winners are foreclosed from defendants’ bank accounts, and are deducted from U.S. financial aid or Israeli tax returns.

In addition, expert opinions are determined in cases of death in a car accident, body injuries, and damage activity in Argentina as an example, in which the plaintiffs are requested by court to submit actuarial calculations to prove the amount of damages for economic loss by a reasonable estimate.

Compensatory damage and economic loss is a complex calculation. In many cases, the most significant component in the expert’s opinion consists of the plaintiff’s loss of earnings in the past and future. However, professional economic valuation requires totalizing variable factors throughout the statistical life expectancy of the plaintiff: age, marital status, period of job training, period of work with certain terminations, salaries and fluctuations in the industry, progress at work, accumulating savings and pension fund, the effect of the time value of money, changes in economic indicators, etc.

We have extensive experience in providing actuarial and economic valuations. Most of the reports are able to estimate the economic damage and are the bases of compensation determined by court.

Our firm, Weinstein & Co. Certified Public Accountants, is the local representative of TIAG (The International Accounting Group), and a member of a leading international accounting network and STEP (Society for Trust and Estate Practitioners).

The firm includes various departments providing accounting and auditing services, business and organizational consulting, support for establishing firms, startup companies and those going through bankruptcy. Our office also specializes in providing economic valuation, actuarial calculations and international tax advice to foreign residents, returning residents, and new immigrants to Israel.

We at Weinstein & Co. CPA invite you to contact us with any questions on the subject. We will be happy to assist you.